No Such Thing As Vampires!
by xNiltiac
Summary: Holly Phillip's life is changed in one night. One stupid night. After meeting a boy, who happens to be a vampire, at her school she's plunged into a world of vamps, secrets, and new found love.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm an idiot. I'm starting ANOTHER story when I already have 3 stories in progress. Stupid, I know. Hopefully I'll still be able to update frequently. Anyway, I've had this story on my mind awhile and I just HAD to write it down and see what people think about it. So please read this and review.**

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_Yawn._

"Nick, we've been at this for _hours. _Can we please stop? I'm tired!" I whined to my best friend Nicholas Murphy.

He threw me a sideways glance. "_One _hour, actually. I'm almost done anyway, stop complaining. It's not like you're actually working, Holly," was his reply. His mouth stretched wide in a yawn and he set back to work.

I rolled my eyes and fell back onto my bed, "This sucks."

I looked over at Nick whose lips twitched, hinting at a smile. I propped up on my elbows and watched his hand fly across the paper, writing the report due tomorrow at school. It was supposed to be a partner effort, but Nick was better than me with this stuff and he insisted on doing it himself. We're supposed to write a report on the book we read in class, detailing the characters, setting, and of course, the plot. Nick and I decided going to a Three Days Grace concert was more important than doing this, so now we're sitting in my room at one in the morning writing the stupid report. Well, Nick's writing the report, but in my defense I have thrown in a few things to add to it.

"Done." Nick threw down the pen grinning, and held up the paper like a proud father might hold up his newborn child.

"Lemme see." I got up and snatched the paper from his hands, earning a glare from my long-time friend and began reading it. "Awesome. Now I can sleep."

Nick rolled his eyes, "Whatever. See you tomorrow." He took the paper back and started for the door.

"Okay, Mr. Grumpy Gills, see you at school." I waved at him as he exited my room, I barely saw his amused smile as he left.

I've known Nick for 14 years, so since I was, like, 2. Our parents are good friends, so naturally we grew up together. He's always been the smart kid, though he doesn't really look nerdy. Some girls would say he was good looking with his curly brown hair and dark green eyes, I wouldn't say that though, I mean, come on, he's like my brother. He's kinda tall, taller than me at least, about 6', and a bit skinny due to his incredibly fast metabolism. His daily outfits usually consist of a t-shirt and some worn jeans, I can't complain about his wardrobe though, I'm almost as non-fashionable as he is. Nick is a dork. No, I'm not trying to be mean, he agrees with me. He loves comic books and science fiction. He also loves reading, he'll read almost any book you throw at him, and be finished with it by the next day. He practically devours them.

I let out a sigh of relief and fell back onto my bed once more, exhausted. Sneaking out to go to a concert, staying out until 1 o' clock in the morning, sneaking back in, and (sord of) writing a report really takes it out of ya.

I closed my eyes and waited for peaceful sleep to overtake me. But of course, right when consciousness started to escape me, a soft tap on my window startled me. Saying it 'startled me' was an understatement. I literally jumped off my bed and fell onto the floor cowering on the other side.

Nick was right, watching all those horror movies really wasn't healthy.

I rolled my eyes at myself. It was probably some animal, or the wind. I wonder why everyone blames stuff on the wind. I mean, seriously, it's like wind is the official scapegoat for weird noises. What did the wind ever do to -

_THUMP._

The loud noise interrupted my thoughts, it was my window being slammed open. I screamed, naturally. Well, atleast I _tried _to scream, but a hand covered my mouth milliseconds before I uttered a sound. My heart rate skyrocketed, pounding noisily in my ears. My breaths came out short and ragged. I was frozen in shock. I looked down at the hand, it was pale and long. Also very cold.

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." The voice was male; sweet like honey and smooth like velvet. It would be very calming, but it was impossible to be calm in a situation like this.

Hearing the voice somehow made me come to my senses. I struggled to get away from the person behind me and they put an arm around my waist, securing me against a hard chest. I tried to pull away desperately, but his grip was vice. All I could think was someone had broken into my house and is going to kill me, kill my family. I felt two sharp pricks on the side of my neck, but the pain lasted so short of a amount of time I figured I imagined it. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. _

The mantra continued in my head as I stopped trying to get away. I felt my muscles relax. _Why am I relaxing?! _I thought frantically. I slumped against the figure behind me. My lids started to get heavy, soon they closed completely, and I was unable to open them again. I had no idea what was going on, but right before I lost consciousness completely I realized there was a slight pulling or sucking sensation where I felt the pricks before. _What the...? _

Then everything went black.

--V--

I awoke curled up in my bed, safe. I sat up quickly, looking around my room for a serial killer or something. When I saw no one, I let out the breath I was holding and laid back down. It was just a dream. _Just a dream, just a dream_, I told myself. But it felt so real.

The curtains on my window were still closed so it was dark in my room, no way to tell if it was night or day yet. I turned my head and looked at the digital clock on my bedside table. The faint red glow emitting from the digits lit up my car keys and cellphone, giving them a red tint. Focusing on the actual numbers I realized it was 7:34 AM.

I groaned and threw my blanket off while swinging my feet to hang off the side of my bed. _I'm so gonna be late. _My alarm was set to go off at 6:30, either I somehow missed it or it was turned off. I picked it up and looked at the back of it. Yep, my suspicions were confirmed, it was off. My little brother is so dead.

I quickly got up to take a shower. I'm definitely not a morning person, so being quick about anything at this time of day was very difficult. When I got out of the shower I wrapped a towel around myself and started for the door to my room. Glancing in the mirror on my way out, I did a double take. _What's up with my neck? _I stepped closer to the mirror and squinted a little. There were two scars, tiny holes in my neck. _The pricks... _I reached up and touched them unconsciously. It wasn't a dream.

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**Dun Dun Dun! Sorry - had to say it. REVIEW! please and thank you. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey peepz. :P Thanks for reading my story and extra thanks to those who reviewed, you guys rock!**

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_What's going on?_

I stared at my reflection, more specifically the two punctures in my neck. Someone really did break into my room and... what? Bit me? Bit me and sucked my blood like a... like a vampire?

I chuckled, though it sounded more like choking. Vampires aren't real... are they? I mean, those are just monsters made up to scare little kids, characters in books and movies. Right? I shuddered. What if they were real? What if a vampire really did break into my room and... _feed _on me? What if...

"Holly! What are you doing in there? You're going to be late for school!"

My mom's voice shook me out of my thoughts and I slapped my forehead. School! I totally forgot about it.

"Holly?" My mom's muffled voice came from behind the door.

"Sorry Mom, my alarm didn't go off." I said opening the door and rushing into my closet to get some clothes on. My mom said something, but I didn't quite hear her as she left my room.

I decided to wear a plain red tank top and my favorite jeans with my new flip flops. I pulled on my clothes shakily, still freaked that what had happened last night was real. I pushed the thoughts out of my mind and decided to think about that later. Never, maybe.

Finally fully clothed I rushed out of my house leaving my hair down to cover up my... injuries. I say 'rushed', but I was moving sluggishly. I felt weak and tired, like I wanted to go back to sleep. _Blood loss?_

I jumped into my awesome car, a black 1968 Camaro Convertible. I got it from a junky car place pretty cheap because of it's crappy quality. My dad, who loves cars, fixed it up for me, making it look and run like it was brand new.

Going over the speed limit _just a bit_, I made it to school only 4 or 5 minutes late. When I entered my homeroom I got a death glare from my teacher as I made my way to my seat. When I sat down I felt tapping on my shoulder and I turned around to face my other best friend Emily Townsend. Nick, Emily, and I are like a trio, the Three Musketeers, and all that fun stuff. We do almost everything together. The only reason Emily wasn't at the concert last night was 'cause she wasn't able to sneak out.

"Hey, have you seen the new guy?" She whispered excitedly.

"Uh, no. Emily, I just got here, like, 2 seconds ago." I replied just as quietly.

She shrugged, "Oh my gosh, you have _got_ to see him. Hotness!" She waggled her eyebrows and I laughed. That's Emily for ya, boy crazy.

Once homeroom was over I didn't rush out of the classroom with the mob of students like I usually did. I was slower, dazed. My mind had wandered back to last night's incident. Emily, noticing I wasn't right behind her, came back and tugged on my arm.

"C'mon! Let's go." She pulled me through the door and stopped when we reached our lockers which were right next to each other, "What's wrong, Holly?" She asked me after getting books for her next class.

I shrugged, "Nothings wrong. I'm just tired from staying up late," I lied and slammed my locker shut.

"And who's fault is that? You should've done your paper _before _the concert." She said and began walking the opposite way as me, "See you at lunch!"

I waved at her, walking backwards in the general direction of my math class. I slammed right into a cold, hard chest. It felt way too familiar. I screamed and jumped away from whoever it was.

"Whoa, sorry. I didn't see you there." I sighed with relief at his voice. It wasn't the same voice. Don't get me wrong though, his voice was probably _the most _amazing voice I've ever heard.

I turned around to apologize, but the words caught in my throat. I was totally awed by his beauty. He looked like he belonged in a famous painting, selling for millions of dollars just so people could look at him. He had jet black hair that fell slightly over one of his gorgeous unusually colored eyes. They were a beautiful gold. He was tall, about 6'1" maybe, and I could tell he was muscular, though he looked skinny. He was also weirdly pale, but he didn't look sick. Emily was right, but 'hot' is a dramatic understatement.

"You the new guy?" I squeaked. I blushed and looked down, suddenly very interested in my shoes.

He chuckled, "Yeah. The name's Derrick."

I looked up at him, he was holding out his hand to shake. I cleared my throat before answering, "Holly." I took his hand and shivered. Partially from the contact with such beauty, partially because it was so _cold. _

Derrick smiled a _fantastic _smile and I couldn't help but return the gesture. He (unfortunately) let go of my hand and (sadly) started walking away and I realized we were the only ones in the hallway. The late bell must've already rung.

"It was really nice to meet you, Holly." He waved at me before turning around and entering a classroom down the hall.

I quickly turned and opened the door to my math class and quietly slipped in, hoping the teacher wouldn't notice me. Luckily, he had his back to me, writing equations for us to do on the board. I got to my seat near the back and right next to Nick.

Nick glanced at me and raised it eyebrows as if to say 'Explain'.

'I'll tell you at lunch' I mouthed to him and he gave a slight nod. I opened my notebook and started copying down the problems on the board.

Once math was over, I went to my locker, grabbed my books, and headed to English, completely lost in my thoughts. English was my least favorite class of all. I hated it. Two reasons. 1. Neither Emily nor Nick was in it. 2. Taught by an evil teacher.

I plopped down in my desk and the teacher, Mrs. Cook, gave me a death glare. I was starting to think that expression was stuck on her face though, 'cause she seemed to always be glaring.

I paid no attention to her ranting as I sat with my head in my hand. My mind was currently occupied. At first I was thinking about vampires, real or not? Then I thought about the holes in my neck, hoping nobody noticed them. Thoughts of the monster that bit into my neck and sucked my blood clouded my mind also. When I realized I was shaking, I switched my thoughts over to a lighter subject. Derrick.

I sighed wistfully. Derrick didn't only have a stunning appearance, he seemed to be a great guy.

_RIING!_

I jumped, the bell startling me out of my thoughts. Quickly, I grabbed my books and shot out of the classroom, eager to get to lunch. I met Emily at the doors of the cafeteria after putting my books up and we walked in chatting about random stuff.

We sat down with our trays a few minutes later at the table we always sit at, where Nick was already waiting for us.

"Hey," He greeted. He and Emily started talking about something, but I wasn't listening.

I looked around the lunchroom, searching for a certain someone. Since Derrick was new I decided I'd invite him to sit at our lunch table. I finally spotted him with his tray in his hands, he turned and saw me staring at him. I blushed and he smiled crookedly and started walking toward me.

Out of nowhere the Bimbo Crew, as me and my friends call them, appeared and literally pulled him to their table, giggling.

I sighed. He'll probably start dating Abby, the Bimbo Crew leader. It's not like he liked me anyways. I'm average looking, while Abby is beautiful, all the guys love her. He's way out of my league. What was I thinking? He was probably coming over here a second ago to say he didn't want to be friends. I sighed again.

"So Holly, why were you late to math?" Nick asked me suddenly.

I turned to face my friends grinning, "I ran into the new guy, literally."

Emily squealed, causing people a few tables away to look over at us. Nick had a look of dislike on his face.

"I don't like him." See?

"Why not?! He is sooo gorgeous!" Emily said loudly.

"He's just looks and no personality. Right, Holly?"

I shrugged, "He seemed pretty nice to me."

Emily squealed again and Nick rolled his eyes.

After lunch the day went by pretty slow. I found out Derrick was in my last two classes though, but so was Abby. She made sure to have his full attention in each.

After school, I was walking to my car, not feeling like waiting on my friends today, when I felt someone staring at me. I looked behind me, expecting to see someone standing there, but saw no one. While my head was turned I ever so smoothly tripped over my own two feet. I closed my eyes anticipating the pain of hitting the concrete, but it never came. A strong, cold arm was wrapped my waist, keeping me from falling.

I turned my head and looked up to see Derrick. His expression was one of shock, but I don't think it was because of me. I gave him a confused look and he smiled, the shock disappearing from his beautiful features.

"You're pretty clumsy, huh? First running into me, then tripping on air." He pulled me up until I was standing on my own two legs.

I blushed, "Thanks for catching me."

He smiled crookedly, "You're very welcome."

I was about to ask him where he came from, since I didn't see him in the parking lot at all before. It's like he appeared out of nowhere. But his expression stopped me.

His demeanor completely changed, his golden eyes seemed to visibly darken and he became angry. I was a bit scared. Then I noticed his gaze was locked on my neck. He reached up and brushed my hair away completely revealing the bite mark on my neck.

He looked from my face to the bite mark in confusion, anger still shown in his eyes.

"How did this happen? Who did this?"

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**I'm leavin ya with a cliffie. Please, please, PLEASE review. You'll be my best friend forever! Lol. Thanks for readin' tho.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright here's the third chapter! I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, but my grandmother ended up in the hospital recently and it's made my life a lot busier, so please forgive me if it takes awhile to update. **

**Real quick: I'd like to thank my reviewers! You guys are awesome for taking your time to review my story. My ego is like the size of Texas right now. Lol**

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"I... I- uh.." I stuttered trying to come up with a believable explanation, because surely I couldn't tell him the truth, "I fell...?"

Derrick was fuming, but I didn't understand why he would get all upset about an injury. Especially an injury on _me._

"You fell?!" He asked skeptically.

I nodded my head weakly and he sighed, exasperated. His dark gold eyes locked with my emerald colored ones and they softened dramatically, realizing he was scaring me. He looked away resting one hand on his hip while the thumb and forefinger of the other pinched his nose. _What's his deal?_

When he turned back and looked down at me his eyes were pure gold again. He put both of his hands on my shoulders, "Tell me the truth. Who bit you?"

"Who b-bit me?" So I _was _bitten. I mean, I realized this before, but it could always have been something else. And what did Derrick know? If he's asking who bit me, then obviously he knows about vampires. I felt the chill of his cold hands on my shoulders, and I studied his abnormally pale skin, unusually colored eyes, and almost inhuman beauty. _Maybe he's a vampire? _

"Maybe _you_ could tell me." I said, finally able to speak normally. Derrick looked at me skeptically, again.

"What?"

I hesitated, I was about to tell him what happened to me last night. What if he's not a vampire? And this is just a big misunderstanding? Would he believe me? Probably not. He'd ship me off to the nearest mental institution. But I was confident my suspicions were correct so I continued, "Look, Derrick, I don't _know _who bit me. All I know is someone broke into my room through a two-story window and sucked my blood. I figure it was a vampire, as crazy as that sounds... I figure you're a vampire, too."

Derrick stared at me, his mouth agape, in complete shock. He took a step back and swiftly whirled around, he looked over his shoulder at me with an unreadable expression before running off with inhuman speed into the forest that surrounded the school. I stared after him, unable to move, my mind racing.

_What just happened here?_

--A--

When I arrived at home about 20 minutes later, I immediately went straight to my room. Shedding my jacket and messenger bag I always had with me, I plopped onto my bed with my arms spread out and stared at the ceiling, motionless.

My mind was like a messy office, the thoughts all jumbled and confusing. I decided I needed to organize before the headache I already had got worse. So I neatly filed away my thoughts in the filing cabinet that was my mind.

The first drawer of my mental filing cabinet was filled with thoughts of what had happened to me just last night. That was sorted, not too much stress there. I knew what had happened, a vampire bit me and took my blood. _Yep, that's nothing to worry about_, I thought sarcastically. I still wanted to know _who_ took my blood without permission, and only one person could help me with that.

The second drawer though needed some serious dealing with. This one contained my confusing and stressful thoughts of Derrick. He's a vampire, I know it. I don't know much about vampires, but what I've read fits him exactly, besides the bursting-into-the-flames-when-going-into-sunlight thing. And somehow, even though the fact that he was a blood-sucking monster was supposed to, it didn't scare me. The drawer was slightly neater, but for it to become less jumbled, I needed to talk to Derrick. He's got some s'plainin to do.

The third and last drawer contained this thought and this thought only, and it probably troubles me even more than the others: _Why don't I just forget any of this ever happened? Pretend it was just a nightmare resulting from watching too many scary movies late at night? Forget I ever met Derrick? Forget that vampires actually exist? And go on with my life normally? _Why didn't I? It was a cowardly solution to my problems, but a solution nonetheless. Suddenly I realized I already knew the answer to my question, it was because I'm probably the most curious person on the planet, any mystery sucks me in and I won't forget it until I've solved it. And right now, I've got one of the biggest mysteries staring me in the face, encouraging me to do something about it: Vampires. Obviously, Derrick falls under that category, so forgetting him isn't an option either. Satisfied with that drawer, I mentally shut it, locked it, and threw away the key. Reducing it to yesterday's news.

My throbbing headache began to subside, but my stomach was still twisted in knots from stress and worry. It was probably never going to go away. I rolled over onto my side and hugged my knees, closing my eyes. Eventually I drifted off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

"Holly! Dinner!"

My father's voice calling from the bottom of the stairs startled me from my sleep. I stretched, yawning, and got out of bed feeling more refreshed than this morning. I walked down the stairs and into the dining room where my 12 year old brother, Zach, was setting the table. I went over to him and smacked him on the side of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He yelled angrily.

"For making me late for school today, you little midget," I replied messing up his blond hair. Me and Zach are complete opposites, he has blond hair while I have jet black, his eyes are light blue and mine are an emerald green. He took after our mom, and I took after our dad.

He smoothed his hair, smirking, "I don't know what you're talking about. You're so forgetful... you probably just forgot to turn your alarm on," he said casually with a shrug setting down a fork, the smirk still plastered on his face.

I raised my hand to smack him again, but my mom walked in saying, "Holly, please stop hitting your brother in the head." She set down a dish of lasagna and walked back into the kitchen.

He smirked again and stuck his tongue out, but what I said next made him scowl, "OK Mom, I won't hit him in the head again. He has such a low IQ, he needs to keep all the brain cells he's got."

"Alright, kids, stop fighting and let's eat dinner in peace, please," my dad said as he sat at the head of the table.

After dinner, I went straight to bed since I had no homework. I changed into a big t-shirt that hung loosely on my slim frame and some comfortable shorts. I snuggled up in my warm blankets, for once today not thinking about vampires or anything else making my life complicated, and fell into a deep 9 or 10 hour sleep.

Derrick didn't show up at school the next morning. _So much for talking to him._ Right now, I was in the cafeteria at lunch, sitting with my friends. I had been eager for this period all morning, waiting to see Derrick and get some answers out of him, but he wasn't here. I sighed, my head in my hands, looks like the first 2 drawers of my mental filing cabinet were staying untidy for another day.

"Holly? What's wrong? You okay?" Nick asked poking my arm to get my attention.

"She's been acting like that all morning," Emily said worriedly, "Yesterday, too."

I turned to face my two best friends, they were both frowning at me in concern, "I'm fine, guys," I reassured them and forced a smile, "Just... stressed."

"You know you can tell us anything. If you're having some problems, we can help you out," Nick said.

Emily grinned, "Yeah, we got your back, Holly."

I genuinely smiled this time. I realized how lucky I am for having such awesome and caring friends. I wanted to tell them everything: about the vampires, about Derrick, about getting fed on. But I couldn't. My smile dropped back into a frown. Like I said, they are my best friends, and I would never want to lose them, and that could happen if I spouted my crackhead story.

"It's nothing, really. Nothing I can't handle by myself." I felt bad for lying to them, because somewhere deep down I knew all this lying could end badly, "But thanks for caring, I appreciate it." _At least that wasn't a lie._

Nick half-smiled, still sensing there was something wrong, and I wasn't telling them. He was like that, I've known him for so long he can almost read me like he reads books. Emily smiled though, and hugged me.

--M--

After school I sat down at my desk and started on my homework. The teachers had loaded me with essays and assignments. I sat tapping my pencil thoughtfully on my desk, my mind on anything but homework.

Suddenly there was a knock on my window, three steady knocks actually. A little scared I rose up from my chair and couldn't decide whether to run or open the window. Common sense told me to run, curiosity told me to open the window. After much internal debate, curiosity won over common sense in the end.

I walked slowly over to the window, feeling like one of those horror movie characters that everyone in the audience is yelling at to not open the window. Suddenly a saying popped into my head...

_Curiosity killed the cat..._

I opened the window and suddenly Derrick was standing in front of me, "We need to talk."

_...and satisfaction brought it back._

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**Yay! Another cliffie! I'm so evil. Please review my story or I will refuse to update! I want ATLEAST 5! lol even more and I'll update quicker. Oh and I kinda wanna do the next chapter in Derrick's POV, if you think that's a good idea or a really horrible one please tell me in your review :P If I do end up doing that I'll probably start the chapter when he first sees Holly at school until where they are now. But I may change my mind about doing his POV at all, it really depends on how strongly you want it.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**I just absolutely love it when I check my email and I see all those reviews, alerts, and favorites! It just makes me wanna sit down and start writing the next chapter. So, well, I did. Lol here it is!**

**Btw: I love u ppl! :P thank u sooo much for reviewing. **

**And I decided to do the chapter in Derrick's POV**

**OK, now you can start reading...**

**seriously...**

**I'll stop. Lol**

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Derrick's POV

Being a vampire can be very boring sometimes.

We live forever, we can't sleep, and the people I spend the majority of my time with is my family. Not that spending time with my family isn't fun and all, but it's gets kinda old, ya know? And it's not like I can really have friends, or a girlfriend for that matter. I'd have to tell them at some point I was a blood-sucking vampire, and frankly, I didn't trust anyone enough to be able to do that. And anyways, none of the girls I've met in my 143 years of being a vampire have really attracted me.

The only semi-non-boring part of my life (or un-life, whatever) is school. The drama of all the teenage lives can be quite amusing at times, but mostly it's always the same, boring things. I don't _have _to go to high school, but if I didn't, well, there wouldn't be much to entertain me, and I'd probably go insane.

"Derrick!"

My head snapped up to see my brother Jason standing in the doorway of my room. He wasn't really my brother, but we've been acting like a family so long, I just see him as my brother anyway. Our family was a little small; I had a brother, Jason, a sister, Cassandra, or Cassie, and a father, William. Like Jason, I wasn't related to William or Cassie.

"We gotta go, first day of school starts in..." he checked his watch, "5 minutes."

I got up and walked out the door, "I can get us there on time."

Jason threw the keys at the back of my head, which would have hurt with this incredible strength, if I hadn't caught them. He appeared beside me as I walked to the car, "With your insane driving we'll get there in 30 seconds. Just don't get us killed," he joked.

I slid in the driver's seat and smirked at Jason who was already in the passenger's seat, "I think the car would be far more damaged than us if we crashed."

I started the car, but didn't pull out yet. I honked the horn a couple of times, and a few seconds later Cassie came running out the door. She was in the back seats barely 2 seconds after she left the front door.

"Sorry guys, I spilled nail polish on my top and I had to find a new one. You know how long it takes me to do that. At first I was gonna where this cute pink blouse then I saw my new dark blue one, and it took me _forever _to decide which one to wear, so I tried them both on a couple of times before I finally chose this one." Cassie said all this rapidly, only a vamp would understand a word she said, and gestured at the top she was wearing at the end. I gave her a confused look.

"That's green."

She nodded enthusiastically, "I decided it was a green day today."

I rolled my eyes and finally pulled away from our humongous house (or mansion, your pick) and sped down the road in my Mustang hitting 130 mph.

We arrived at school 2 minutes before the late bell rang and made it to our classes on time. My first period class was math. Even though I pretty much know everything already in math and I get perfect grades, I still hated having to start out everyday with math.

The teacher looked up at me and said, "Derrick Sorenson?"

"Yes sir." I handed him the paper I was given at the front desk to give to my first period teacher.

The teacher, Mr. Jones apparently, showed me where to sit and I plopped down in my desk.

--P--

After class ended and the bell rang, I got up and walked out the door, and I was greeted by someone running straight into me. The girl screamed and jumped away, startled.

"Whoa, sorry. I didn't see you there," I apologized.

She turned around, and I froze. She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. She had perfect black hair that fell down past her shoulders, she was average height, 5'7" probably. And she had a great body I might add. Then I noticed her eyes, they were an amazing shade of emerald green, and I found myself getting lost in them.

"You the knew guy?" She squeaked, breaking me out my daze. She blushed and studied her shoes, which I thought made her look adorable.

I laughed, "Yeah. The name's Derrick."

I held out my hand for her to shake and she looked up and cleared her throat, taking my hand, "Holly." _Beautiful name for a beautiful lady, _I almost said, but I stopped myself. No girlfriends, remember?

I noticed we were the only people left in the hall way and reluctantly let go of her hand and headed for my next class, but not before saying, "It was really nice meeting you, Holly." I waved and walked into the classroom.

"Mr. Sorenson, you're late." Mrs. Bryant called from behind her desk.

I turned and gave her a dazzling smile, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Bryant. Won't happen again."

She smiled slightly, "Alright, I'll let you off with a warning since it's your first day."

I knew it wasn't right to use my vampiric charm on people, but I didn't have time for detention today. I sat down at my desk and thought about the only thing on my mind at the moment: Holly.

--I--

At lunch I got a tray, even though I didn't eat, it made me seem more human. I looked around the lunchroom, searching for Jason and Cassie. I could feel someone staring at me and I turned around to see Holly sitting at a table with two other people. I smiled at her, making her blush, and began walking over to sit with her, Jason and Cassie could live without me. I decided sitting next to her for one day at lunch couldn't hurt. I wasn't supposed to get close to people, but I couldn't resist.

"Hey Hotstuff," A girl with blond hair stepped in front of me, "Why don't you come sit with me?"

"I -" Before I could say anything, she started dragging me to a table and pushed me into a seat.

She sat down next to me, a little too close, and said, "I'm Abby." She was _trying _to be seductive. It wasn't working.

I got up, leaving my tray on the table, "And I don't care." I gave her a smile and walked away. I was about to go to Holly again, but I heard my name being called, "Derrick! Over here!"

I groaned and turned to see Cassie waving at me from an empty table where she sat with Jason. I went over and sat down, "Hey guys."

"So, how was your first day of school so far?" Cassie asked, as enthusiastic as always.

I shrugged, "Fine, I guess."

I noticed how many people were staring at us and whispering to their friends. Many girls were eying me and waving, I ignored them. I turned my gaze to the only girl I was interested in, Holly, while Cassie chattered to Jason.

Right at that moment, I wished I wasn't a vampire, that way I could be friends with her, maybe more if I was lucky. But there was no cure for vampirism. I sighed.

After lunch I decided if I was going to make this any easier on myself, I needed to stay away from Holly. If I let myself get too close, it probably wouldn't end well. I was a vampire and she was human, and I hadn't missed how delicious her blood smelled earlier. Even though I drink animal blood, human blood does tempt me sometimes, and if I wasn't able to control myself around her, I could end up killing her.

She was in two more of my classes and so was that airhead Abby. I tried to ignore her the best I could, but it was hard. After school ended I walked out of the building slowly, by the time I got to the parking lot there was only one person in it, Holly. I watched her walk to her car, but she suddenly stopped and turned around. Milliseconds before she saw me I dashed behind a car 20 feet away. Through the window I saw her trip and start to fall, and almost unconsciously I quickly caught her.

She turned and stared at me for a second before giving me a confused look. I smiled at her, "You're pretty clumsy, huh? First running into me, then tripping on air." I pulled her up onto her feet.

She blushed, making me smile wider, "Thanks for catching me."

"You're very welcome." I told her. Her hair that had been covering the side of her neck all day had been thrown back slightly somehow when she tripped, and I noticed something that made me very, very angry. A bite mark. Somebody had bitten her.

I brushed back her hair all the way, I could smell vampire on her, but no one I recognized, "How did this happen? Who did this?"

"I... I- uh.." she stuttered and paused, "I fell...?"

_She fell?! _"You fell?!" I yelled skeptically.

She nodded her head slightly and I sighed turning away, pinching my nose. Who could've bitten her? Nobody in my family. A rogue vampire maybe? Probably. I glanced at Holly, she looked _scared_. I had scared her. I softened my voice and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Tell me the truth. Who bit you?"

"Who b-bit me?" She looked deep in thought for a moment staring at me, "Maybe _you _could tell me."

"What?" I asked. What was she talking about? Did she think _I _bit her? No, she couldn't know I was a vampire.

She hesitated then said_, _"Look, Derrick, I don't _know _who bit me. All I know is someone broke into my room through a two-story window and sucked my blood. I figure it was a vampire, as crazy as that sounds... I figure you're a vampire, too."

I stepped away from her, shocked. How could she know? She was way too perceptive for her own good. I whirled around, I had to get out of here. I looked back at her for second before racing through the forest.

--R--

I was at the mansion within 2 minutes and I ran straight to my room. I sat down on my couch, since I didn't have a bed, and thought.

Holly knew I was a vampire. Should I tell my family? That would be the right thing to do, but how would they react? They might want to get rid of her or something. I couldn't let that happen. What am I going to do? I dragged my hands down my face in frustration. This was not good.

I laid down, resting my head on my arm and stared at the ceiling, still thinking. I looked over to the window and it was nighttime. The clock on the wall said I'd been thinking for hours. And I still didn't know what to do. I needed to tell my family. I got up and started pacing.

My family would never hurt her. Never. I know that. So why don't I go tell them? Then I realized it was because they would want to confront Holly, make sure they can trust her. I don't think she could handle finding out my whole family were vampires, not to mention be in the same room as them. Maybe I should prep her? Talk to her. Then tell my family. _Sounds like a plan, _I thought to myself.

When I looked at the clock again it told me it was an hour after school the next day. Wow, time really flies when I'm thinking. Impatient to get going, I jumped out my 3-story window instead of using the door and ran in the general direction of Holly's house. I guess you could say vampires have a built in GPS system, makes things easier to find.

When I arrived at her house, I sensed where her room was and found her window. I jumped up and gripped the side of the window and knocked three times. I heard her get up and walk slowly to the window before flinging it open. I flashed in and appeared in front of her, "We need to talk."

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**Ehh... I'm not very happy with this chapter for some reason. I don't think I did a very good job with it. Please review and cheer me up please lol. Thanks for reading, ur awesome!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so glad you guys liked my last chapter lol. Since I got some pretty positive reviews, I'll probably do Derrick's POV every other chapter maybe, but not that much. :-P **

**To my reviewers: Thank you!! I know I say it all the time, but it's so true I have to say it at least every time I update, you guys rock! **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

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"We need to talk."

"Yes we do," I agreed after getting over the shock of Derrick appearing in front of me in the time span of a blink. I gestured to the chair in front of my desk while plopping down on my bed. He swiveled the chair around to face me and lazily, but somehow still very gracefully, sat down.

I stared at him, waiting for him to say something. He avoided making eye contact and kept silent. I've never been a really patient person, so 5 minutes later I decided to break the awkward silence, "So... you're a vampire."

Derrick looked up at me with a minuscule smile on his lips. I found myself staring at them as he spoke, "Yes... I am. You're unusually calm about this fact."

I pondered this. I was, wasn't I? I wasn't even scared of him. Unnerved? Yes. Scared? Not even a little.

I must be going completely insane.

I would have to be. Who wouldn't be scared of someone you found out was a vampire? I should be cowering in a corner, begging him not to drain me of my blood. Yet, I wasn't. Now, why was that? Maybe... maybe it's because I trust him.

"I trust you, Derrick," I said, voicing my thoughts, "And plus, if you really wanted to rip my throat out, you would've done it by now."

"True," he said thoughtfully, "But I could be saving you for later, maybe I've already eaten?"

I raised my eyebrows at him, "Touché."

He chuckled, lightning the mood, "I don't get you."

I rested my elbow on my knee and cradled my head in my hand, staring at him intently, "Why is that?"

"You know I'm a vampire, but you're not scared, you're not running away... no, you're sitting here," he gestured to me, "3 feet away from me, a vampire, who could kill you in 2 seconds, and I can sense no fear whatsoever in you." He dropped his hand back into his lap and looked at me incredulously.

I blinked at him, "I trust you," I repeated, "You couldn't kill me, you don't have it in you."

He stood up so swiftly I almost missed the movement, "How do you know that?! You've only known I even existed for 2 days! You've barely talked to me! I could be a mass murdering, blood-sucking vampire, cleverly disguised as a high school student!" His voice had raised volume steadily through his speech.

"Even if I'm not that, I could lose it at any second! My control is near perfection, but I'm not quite there yet," he said and then came inches away from my face, then hovered over my neck. I heard him in inhale deeply through his nose, he whispered in my ear, "Do you know how _delicious _your blood smells? Do you know how _hard _it is to resist the urge to sink my fangs into your neck and drain you dry?"

Now _that _scared me. He backed away, sitting back down in front of me. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I'm pretty sure my face was frozen in shock.

"Finally," he said exasperated, "You have to understand how dangerous I can be, Holly. If I lost my control, there's no way you could fight me off."

"You callin' me a wimp?" I said weakly, still not moving an inch. That's me, always masking my feelings with sarcasm.

Derrick appeared before me again too quick for my lame human eyes to follow, "Holly, a grizzly bear couldn't fight me off. I can lift weight up to almost a ton. As you've seen, my speed is inhuman, I can run over 200 mph. It would all happen so fast you wouldn't have time to react."

"Okay, I get it, don't trust you," I said as he once again took his seat.

"Thank you," he said, and I could see the visible relief from finally getting me to be scared of him. Well, maybe he wasn't so much trying to make me scared as trying to make me wary of him.

"So now will you _please _explain to me how vampires went from being mythical creatures to being real over night?" I said, as my heart finally settled down.

Derrick laughed again, "Well, it didn't exactly happen over night. Vampires have existed for a very, very long time. I don't have any clue how we came to be, so don't ask."

Me, being my usual curious self, started bursting with questions, but I didn't want to overwhelm him, so I just asked one that was particularly bugging me, "How have you kept it a secret?"

"It's not that hard. Besides the distinctive features, we aren't _that _different from humans."

"The distinctive features being abnormally pale skin, unusually colored eyes, and a very cold body temperature?" I questioned, and he nodded. I looked into his beautiful golden eyes, "Do all vampires have gold colored eyes?"

"It depends on the vampire's age. The younger you are, the brighter your eyes. The older, the darker," he explained.

There was another question begging to be asked, "Are you immortal? Every variation of vampire I've ever read or seen in movies is always immortal."

Derrick nodded, "Yes, we're immortal. We look the exact way we looked when we were changed. The only differences would be the skin and the eyes," he said holding up his arm and pointing at his eyes.

I smiled at him, "So, how old are you?"

He looked uncomfortable, "You don't need to know."

"Aww, come on." I made puppy dog eyes at him.

He half-smiled, "Maybe some other time." Darn your immunity to my puppy dog eyes.

I crossed my arms, "Fine."

He smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back at him. "So, back to the secret keeping," I said, "You're looks may help you blend, but I'm sure people would notice if a bunch of people stayed the same age for 20 years."

Derrick's melodic laugh filled my room once again, "We move around a lot. We stay in one place for about 10 years, until we're almost noticeably not aging, then we move on. The place we moved from recently was farther up-state, in Northern Washington. We were going to stay there until the end of the school year, but... something happened," he vaguely ended.

I decided not the push the matter, he didn't seem to want to elaborate, "You kept saying 'we', does that mean you're in... like, a vampire coven or something like that?"

He nodded, "Something like that," he said with a grin, "I have a family, not blood-related or anything, but we treat each other like one. I have a father, William, and a brother and a sister, Jason and Cassandra."

Something clicked in my brain, "Those were the two you were sitting with at lunch the other day?"

"Yeah, that was them." Derrick suddenly glared at my neck.

I reached up and felt the two holes, "Do you know who did this?" I asked softly.

"No, I don't recognize the scent, it's nobody I've met," he said, still glaring.

I studied his furrowed brow and his golden eyes clouded with anger, "Why does it make you so angry?"

He looked up at me and stared into my eyes for a second before his gaze softened considerably. We stared at each other for a second before he opened his mouth to reply.

"Holly! Can you come help me real quick?" My mom's voice carried through the door to my room as she knocked.

I turned around to face the door, "Hold on a sec, Mom!"

I turned around to face Derrick, "Wha -" I stopped when I didn't see him in the chair. I looked around the room.

He was gone.

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**I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I am sooo tired. Lol It's in the early AM's where I am. Review! I want to hear from my lovely reviewers again ;-)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heyz! I finally figured out where I'm going with this story so I _may _update quicker. Maybe. Thank you sooo much for reviewing pplz! I love you all :D!**

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I sighed and fell back, my head hitting my extra large and soft pillows. I have a sneaking feeling that's gonna happen a lot. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but a million unanswered question buzzing around in my head made that feat impossible. _Why did he leave? What was he going to say before my mom interrupted us? Am I going to see him tomorrow? _

3 hours and 50 questions later I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up early, the cause not being my alarm, but a furry white and black-tipped tail tickling my nose. I sneezed and pushed my fat cat Oreo off my bed, making him meow in protest. I sat up and glared at the overweight black and white tabby as he hopped up onto the foot of my bed, meowing for me to get up and give him food and attention.

"Why don't you get Zack to feed you, Fatty? I need my beauty sleep!" I asked the cat exasperated and laid back down. Yes, I do talk to my cat. And, occasionally, he talks back.

"Meooww." Oreo padded up to me and sat on my chest. I scratched behind his big ears and he purred, a deep rumble down in his throat. I cannot stay mad at this cat.

He poked me with his wet nose, urging me to get up already, "Alright, fine. You win." _As always. _Oreo gave a satisfied kitty noise and jumped off of me and padded out of my room to wait in the kitchen while I got ready for school. I swear that cat is spoiled rotten.

A sigh escaped my lips as I crawled out of bed and jumped into the shower. After I got dressed into a t-shirt I got at the concert a couple of days ago, some comfortable jeans, and my converses, I grabbed my cell phone, car keys, and messenger bag on my way out of my room.

About 10 minutes later I had fed Oreo, ate breakfast, and I'm now driving to school. When I got there I realized I was very early, my car was 1 out of 4 cars in the student parking lot. I checked my cell phone, it read 7:24. Sighing, I cranked up the radio on a random station. I can't really tell you what song was playing, I wasn't really listening to the music. The questions from last night were refreshed in my mind, giving me a slight headache.

I slung my arm over the steering wheel and rested my forehead on it, completely succumbing to my thoughts. I know a lot more about vampires now, like how to tell who is one and who's not, that they live forever, they have super speed, strength, and senses. There's probably much more.

I know Derrick is a vampire, and his family are vampires. Suddenly something occurred to me, vampires drink blood, so obviously Derrick and his family drink blood. _Do they drink human blood? _I shook my head, the friction on my arm causing my forehead to heat up. I doubt they did. No. They don't. Do they? I mean, people would know if someone went missing, and I've never heard of anybody going missing. I live in a small town, so if someone did, the news would spread like wildfire.

"_Holly!" _

Startled, I jerked my head up and looked out of the driver's side window where the muffled, but loud, voice came from. It was a very panicked Nick, he was banging on my window, calling my name. He stopped when I looked up at him, and relief took over his features. He backed up as I opened the door and stepped out slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"I've been banging on your window for like 5 minutes! Jeez, I thought you were dead!" Nick said loudly.

"Thinking, sorry." I paused, "Why are you here so early?"

He stared at me like I suddenly grew 3 heads, "What are you talking about? Class starts in 4 minutes."

I gave him a quizzical look before looking around to see the parking lot was full. I checked my cell phone, 7:56. I've been thinking for almost 30 minutes! My mouth formed an "o" shape as I looked back at Nick.

"I didn't even notice," I told him and grabbed his arm, "We better get goin'."

I dragged him into the school and we parted ways to go to separate classrooms. As I took my seat in homeroom, I automatically twisted my body around to talk to Emily.

"Hey," I greeted my blond friend in the desk behind me.

"Yo home skillet," she said jokingly and I laughed.

"What're you doing this weekend?" She asked me curiously.

"Probably nothing. I'll think of something when it gets closer though." I said nonchalantly. I actually planned on spending my weekend with Derrick.

"Holly, it's Friday."

"Oh... ha. I knew that," I said with a slight laugh. I didn't actually. I had been so busy getting caught up in this new mystery that I hadn't even bothered to keep up with which day it is.

Emily shrugged off my weird behavior and we chatted about random stuff like we usually do: boys, gossip, problems, etc. But of course I didn't tell her about _my_ problems.

Once the bell rang, signaling my first class was over, I hurried out of the classroom, leaving Emily in the dust. After visiting my locker, I rushed to Math as people were still leaving. I'm sure you know my goal in all this, right?

Derrick appeared in the doorway. _Looking as gorgeous as ever, _I thought. Suddenly I hoped vampires couldn't read minds. When he spotted me he smiled his crooked smile and came over to me.

"I need to talk to you after school," he said seriously, his grin gone.

I nodded in understanding, "See you." I waved before walking into Math.

Right before I walked in, I caught a glimpse of Abby Bryar glaring at me. I very childishly stuck my tongue out at her, she huffed and walked away. I smirked and walked into the classroom. There may be nothing going on between me and Derrick, but I just couldn't resist rubbing it in and making Abby mad. _Though I might regret it later..._

"Pop quiz!" Were the first words out of Mr. Jones' mouth.

I didn't join the chorus of groans from the students around me, I'm ready for it. Math is my best subject and I manage to keep my grade above average in this class.

The teacher passed out packets of paper stapled together. This quiz was gonna take the whole class period up. I didn't mind though, I won't have as much time to myself to think, therefore finally giving my mind a rest.

Near the end of the period, I dropped my pencil onto my desk, finally done with my test. I looked around the classroom to see I was the only one finished, and when I had dropped my pencil a few people glared at me. I'm smart in Math, so sue me.

The bell rang 15 minutes later, and I walked up to Mr. Jones' desk, quiz in hand, and dropped it on the corner of the desk as I walked out.

When lunch finally came around, I caught up with Emily and Nick and we walked together into the cafeteria. As I sat down at our trademark table with my tray I spotted Derrick sitting with two people almost of beautiful as he was. Jason and Cassandra. I noticed they had trays sitting in front of them, but the food on them was untouched. Derrick was talking to Jason, more like arguing actually. Derrick glanced at me and Jason did the same except his expression was of anger and distrust. I paled, it was a bit scary.

"You alright, Holly?" Nick asked with concern. They seemed to be asking me that a lot lately.

"Y-yeah," I said turning to him. He had followed my gaze and was now looking at Derrick through narrowed eyes. _What's his problem?_

I shook my head at him and turned to Emily instead, "What's up, Emily?"

"Oh, nothing," she said slyly, not looking at me. Obviously she had something to say to me.

"What is it?"

"What?"

"What are you thinking?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said taking a bite out of her slice of pizza.

I gave her The Look, "Cut the crap, Emily, and tell me already!"

She sighed, "You're no fun! But fine, I'll tell you," she motioned for me to come closer so Nick couldn't hear, "Nick's jealous."

I pulled back to stare at her questioningly for a second before answering just as quietly as she had, "Of who?"

"Derrick."

"Why?"

"You're so oblivious!" She said a little louder, throwing her arms up in the air, earning a quizzical look from Nick. She leaned forward again and said, "Because he thinks you like Derrick, which you do."

I looked over at Derrick who's head was angled this way. I could tell he was listening with interest.

"I do not!" I said blushing.

It was Emily's turn to give me The Look, "Of course you do, every female in this school, also some males, are attracted to him!"

I just shook my head, "And why would that make Nick jealous?"

Emily rolled her eyes and turned to her food going back to her normal speaking tone, which is loud, "Just forget it. I give up on you."

Nick looked at me, speaking with his eyes, like he was saying, 'What was that about?'

I shrugged and started eating my food.

--E--

I started drumming my fingers against my thy impatiently. School ended 5 minutes ago and I was waiting for Derrick near the entrance. My mind wandered as I stood leaning against a wall outside. It had rained while we were in school so the leaves on the trees surrounding the school dripped rain water, making a steady rhythm. A bird flying overhead chirped, adding to Nature's song. I closed my eyes and just listened, tuning out the constant chattering of departing students. My drumming fingers started picking up the beat and I played my own part in the music.

I breathed in deeply through my nose and the pure, non-polluted odors of the small town outdoors filled my nostrils. My favorite smell. A light breeze brushed the hair in my eyes away and tickled my skin. I sighed in content. I could stay like this for hours, in the peaceful, musical, good-smelling outdoors, away from my troubles.

"Holly."

I sighed and opened my eyes as the vampire approached me. I knew it wouldn't last long.

"Hey," I said when he reached me and smiled.

Derrick's business-like expression made me lose the smile, "My family wants to meet you."

"They w-want to meet m-me?" I asked/stuttered. _Why do they wanna meet _me_?_

He nodded solemnly, "They need to know they can trust you with our secret."

"Oh...," I trailed off and started to follow Derrick to his car. I stopped before getting in.

"What about my car?"

"You can get it tomorrow," he said and gestured for me to get in.

I complied, putting my seat belt on and asked, "How will I get here to get it?"

Derrick gave me a brilliant smile that my heart flutter against my ribcage like a trapped bird, "Think of me as you're chauffeur."

I grinned back at him, "Maybe I should ride in the back then, and order you to drive me wherever I wanna go."

He chuckled, "Of course, Miss Phillips."

"I don't pay you to talk, I pay you to drive," I said trying to keep a straight face, and failing miserably.

He raised his eyebrows at me, "Last time I check, you don't pay me at all."

I giggled, "Just go."

He laughed and turned the key in the ignition, starting up the Mustang. I admired the interior of his car: leather seats, stereo with speaker system, cup holders...

"Nice car by the way," I commented.

"Thank you," Derrick said with a grin as he pulled out of the parking lot. I stared out the window, not saying anything. The silence wasn't too awkward, but not the most comfortable silence I've been in, either. I remembered suddenly that I was minutes away from meeting his family. His vampire family. My stomach twisted in knots from nervousness. What if they don't trust me? What will they do to me?

Derrick must have sensed my distress, because he looked over at me with a reassuring expression, it helped a little. Then I realized something...

"Hey! Keep your eyes on the road!" I yelled.

"I don't need to," he said casually still looking at me and smiling. Then I saw the speedometer.

"Holy crap! You're gonna get us killed! 130 mph is not a safe speed to drive at!"

Derrick was still smiling, but looked at the road to comfort me a little, "I've been driving for _years_, I promise I won't get us killed."

"Yeah, maybe _you _won't get killed if we swerve off the road and crash," I muttered. That made him drop his smile, but he still didn't slow down. I looked out the window again, he was driving perfectly straight and having no trouble turning. It didn't even feel like we were going all that fast.

A minute or two later we arrived at a mansion that I never even knew existed in this town. Derrick parked his Mustang next to 2 other sport's cars I couldn't name. Suddenly he was gone from the driver's seat and opening the door for me. Impressive.

"Such a gentlemen," I joked flashing him my best smile, which was terrible and ugly compared to his.

"Always, milady." His crooked smile made his features look even more handsome if that was possible.

I glanced nervously at the huge house. I really hoped they'd like me, or at least be able to trust me. Derrick looked down at me with another reassuring smile. This time it didn't help that much.

We started walking as he said, "There's nothing to worry about, I'm sure th-" He stopped in mid-sentence and cocked his head toward his home. Suddenly his eyes widened and he looked at me worriedly.

"Stay here," he commanded.

"What is it?" I asked, but he was already gone.

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**Leaving you with cliff-hangers like that... it's just mean isn't it? Too bad lol, if you wanna know what's goin' on, REVIEW! :P Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, I admit I didn't update quicker, I mean I could've... I was just too lazy, lol. :P Hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you sooooo much to my reviewers, love you peepz!**

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I sighed and stared after him, towards the house, the ridiculously big house. I assume that's where he went anyway, considering there aren't many other options. I had no idea what was going on, so I waited patiently for a couple of minutes, not actually starting to worry, yet. My gaze was locked on the front door, expecting Derrick to run back out and yell, "Just kidding!" But 5 minutes later, I decided this definitely wasn't a joke. _That's _when I started to worry.

I began to pace. What could have possibly gone wrong? _Many things... many bad things. _Scenarios started playing out through my mind's eye like a constant reel.

I decided to occupy my startled mind by describing the mansion to myself: It was big. Obviously, it _was_ a mansion after all. Saying this house is big is like saying the Empire State building is tall. It also had a Victorian Era feel, with columns and everything. The front porch wrapped around the 3-story house and stopped at the back. It was painted an off-white, clearly aged in some places. Ivy crawled up the sides, as well as in the front. There were 2 bay window on either side of the front door. I smiled to myself. I love bay windows, they're great places to read or write, or just relax and watch the sunset. Wow, that was cheesy. Anyway, the other windows had shutters painted black to match the front door, which was a pitch black color. The door looked almost like an illusion, it was so black, it looked as if you could walk into it and keep on going forever and ever into the infinite darkness. Curiously, I walked up the porch steps and held out my arm, walking towards the door. When my fingertips came into contact with the solid surface, the illusion shattered, replaced by a common, everyday door.

So instead, I examined the knocker on said door. It was pure gold, the cliché lion holding the ring in its mouth, except this lion looked more... I don't know, magnificent than any others I've seen. More realistic, like I could really run my fingers through its golden mane.

I shook my head, my imagination was really going wild lately. First, the natures song, then the never-ending door illusion, and now this, the realistic-looking lion knocker. Running my fingers through my hair I thought, maybe learning about the existence of vampires has made me more... open-minded I guess. Yeah, that was probably it.

I looked down. I have no clue why, it was almost involuntary, like a gut-feeling, that I just _had _to look down. Then I saw _it. _The stain on the welcome mat, fairly recent looking. I crouched down and inspected it closer, it was still wet, and a deep red color. My brow furrowed and I extended my index finger down to touch the thick, red substance. I stopped immediately before making contact, I could almost _hear_ my common sense saying, 'You shouldn't do that, you don't even know what it is.' My eyes widened. But I _do _know what it is.

Blood.

My heart started beating furiously against my ribcage, threatening to break through and escape my chest. My adrenal medulla pumped the adrenaline into my blood as I backed quickly away from the blood, tripped down the steps, and fell hard on my butt.

I tried to get up quickly, struggling, barely able to stand because of my shaking legs. That's when the front door burst open, revealing a vampire, and it was _not _the one I wanted to see.

Have you ever noticed, when your watching a thriller movie, everything starts to go wrong right when the main character realizes they're in danger? I have, and now it's happened to me.

I had three seconds to study my situation, I saw a vampire I didn't recognize in the doorway, the door had been flung off it's hinges, he had long-ish black hair and golden eyes, like Derrick's, but _much _darker. I would have thought he was unbelievably attractive, that is if he didn't have extremely pointy canines, and wasn't covered in blood and some pretty nasty injuries. At first I thought it was William, Derrick's 'father', but he had described him to me on the way here, and he had said he had dark brown hair, not black. And it certainly wasn't Derrick's brother, Jason, I've seen him before.

My three seconds were up. The vampire lunged at me, but not at vampire speed, thank God, he looked to weak for that. I started crawling desperately quick towards the car. The blood-thirsty vampire pounced again, and he almost landed on top of me too, but he was caught in mid-air. It was totally bizarre at first, I mean, he was floating in mid-air! But then I noticed familiar arms secured around his torso. The monster was desperately trying to get at me, snarling, his limbs reaching out to me, his jaw snapping in anticipation of biting my neck and draining me dry. At this, I reached up and touched my healing bite mark, I had a feeling if this thirsty vampire bit me, it wouldn't be as painless as the last time I was fed on.

Suddenly, I locked eyes with him, the vampire I mean. I started shaking violently, they were almost void of any emotion, except one. Thirst. Thirst for _my _blood. His eyes were so beautiful, though, and mesmerizing, I just wanted to go closer to him...

"Go! Hurry!" Derrick shouted in a rough voice, breaking me out of my trance. He let go of the vampire with one of his arms, digging in his pocket and throwing the car keys at my feet.

I didn't think twice as I snatched the keys from the ground and scrambled to my feet as I jumped into the car. It took me a couple of tries to get the key into the ignition because I was so hyped up.

I quickly maneuvered the car around and sped off down the long driveway, going as fast as the car could go. As I was making my escape, I glanced into the rear view mirror in time to see the vampire break away from Derrick's grasp and chase after me at his not-vampire-but-still-inhuman speed. Holy crap! I urged the Mustang to go faster. When I looked back into the mirror, I let out a sigh of relief. Derrick had caught up to him and had him securely around the stomach. He dragged him quickly into the house, and when they were completely out of sight, I slowed down a little, to 70 mph. Fast enough to earn a rather large speeding ticket, but slow enough to avoid hitting a tree.

I was racing down back roads, unconscious of where I was going, just trying to get as much distance as possible between me and that monster of a vampire.

Questions ran though my head, begging for answers. Who was he? Another of Derrick's family members? No, Derrick would've told me... and why did he look like he was recently fed through a wood chipper?

I shook my head and realized I had stopped. As I became conscious of my surroundings, I realized I was at Nick's house. It made sense really, that my sub-conscious would bring me here. Whenever I was having troubles, I always went to Nick, and if he wasn't available or if it was a girl problem I went to Emily.

I turned off the engine after parking the Mustang in Nick's driveway. I thought about going home and waiting for Derrick to come and explain to me what was going on, but I needed to calm down before I had a heart attack. I was still adrenaline-pumped and my heart hurt from beating so fast, and if I was going to chill out I had to get my mind of that vampire and his amazingly sharp fangs that itched to sink into neck. And my best friend was the perfect solution.

I shakily got out of the car and approached the door. When I tried to ring the doorbell, I missed, and to steady my finger I had had to grab my wrist and push the button. About 30 seconds later, Nick flung the door open, smiling broadly. His smile disappeared as he saw my appearance, and I realized what a mess I was right now. My jeans were torn at the thy and my clothes were mud and dirt stained, while my hair wasn't much better. I let out a ragged sigh.

"What happened to you?" Nick asked me, concerned. Then he saw the car. Crap. "And who's car is that?"

I thought fast, "Um... I fell." Yeah that excuse is getting old, "And that's..." I heaved a sigh, "Derrick's car."

His widened in surprise, but then narrowed in anger, "_Derrick?_" He spat the name out like it was something dirty, "Why do you have _his _car?"

Thinking fast again, "Um, well, uh... my car broke down...?" I winced at my lame excuse.

"I didn't know you were even friends with him," Nick said coldly, "And why didn't you just borrow _my _car? Or Emily's?" Seriously, I'm getting frostbite.

His attitude was really starting to piss me off. I came here to just calm down and I'm getting the opposite of the results I wanted!

"What the hell is your problem, Nick?!" I shouted. He looked shocked, I never cuss, though 'hell' is hardly a cuss word. "What's your problem with Derrick?! He's done nothing to you! Or anybody for that matter!"

Nick's face was turning red, "I've _told _you! Maybe if you'd listen to me once in awhile, you'd have heard I said he's just looks and no freaking personality!" He yelled at me. Nick hardly ever yells at me, almost never. I flinched as if he'd hit me.

He looked guilty as soon as he finished yelling, but I didn't care, I _wanted _him to feel guilty, I was high on adrenaline and absolutely furious with him, so I continued shouting, "Of course he has a personality, _Nick_," I spat his name out as he did Derrick's, "And his is 100 times better than yours will _ever _be!" I immediately regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth and I saw his hurt expression. I felt like I'd kicked a puppy.

"Nick, I-" I began, but he slammed the door in my face. I stared at it, not really seeing it, for a full minute before turning around and sluggishly making my way to Derrick's car. The engine roared to life and I keyed the ignition and I drove home, still looking straight forward with wide eyes.

I parked the Mustang GT in the driveway, mechanically taking the keys out of the ignition, dropping them into my coat pocket, and walking into my house. Oreo greeted my at the door, but I paid him no attention, much to his dismay, as I walked up the stairs and into my room, shutting the door softly behind me.

I didn't even make it to my bed.

I collapsed on the floor and started to cry. I cried about everything. I cried because I was almost eaten by a blood-sucking vampire, I cried because I've been bitten by a blood-sucking vampire, I cried because I just wrecked my friendship my best friend of fourteen years, and I cried for the loss of what my life could have been if vampire's never even existed.

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**SO! What do you think? Did I make you cry? I did. I get very emotional while reading lol. Do a good deed and review. :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever! Two words: writer's block. Need I say more? Didn't think so. Anyway, thank you sooo freakin' much to those who reviewed! You are my inspiration to write, and I swear I'm not just saying that :P.**

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I woke up a few hours later feeling like someone was watching me. It was a really weird feeling to wake up to. Like a tingly sensation on the side of my head. Curiously, I opened my eyes and found myself staring into pools of brilliant gold.

"Holly."

Derrick leaned forward, worried expression on his face, and said something I didn't quite catch. I sat up and faced him making him lean back to give me room. I realized I was in my bed and not on the floor anymore.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" I shrugged casually.

He reached up and touched my face, my eyes were still puffy from crying, I'm sure I looked horrible. Then I remembered _why _I was crying. I looked away from him, at the wall across from my bed. Suddenly, I felt his cold fingers on my chin, directing my face back at him.

"What's wrong?"

I sighed, "I went to Nick's after..." I paused, "And we had a fight."

"I'm sorry," Derrick said sincerely. I smiled at him. He was so sweet.

"It's... it's okay," I told him, "I'm sure we'll make up." Would we? I sighed. We've never fought like that before.

Derrick just nodded and stood up. I stood up along with him, "So... what happened?"

"I'll explain on the way," he said leaving the room.

I followed him. As we approached his car I asked, "On the way where?"

He glanced at me, "My house."

"Is it safe?" I slid into the passenger's seat, reaching behind me and pulling the seat belt across my body and clicking it in place.

"Don't worry, he's under control." Derrick started up the car and backed out of the driveway.

"Who is he, exactly?"

"His name is Christopher. Cassie and Jason found him in the woods about 20 miles from our mansion while they were hunting. He was severely injured, and blood thirsty."

"Which was why he was trying to eat me?"

"Yes. He didn't know what he was doing," Derrick looked over at me, "When vampires are that bad, they have no conscious knowledge of their actions, they just sniff out the nearest blood source and drain them dry. It's survival instinct."

"Is he better now?" I asked.

"Jason took him hunting, he should be fine now."

"Do you know how he was injured?"

"I left to get you before they started questioning him, but it had to be another vampire. A powerful one at that. Very powerful. It isn't easy to hurt a vampire, and this Christopher guy is pretty old and powerful himself. We're going to have to be more careful."

"So you're saying there's an extremely powerful vampire out there, attempting to kill other vampires?"

He just nodded without looking at me.

I shuddered involuntarily and suddenly I felt a cold hand on my knee.

"I'll protect you, Holly," Derrick said, staring at me with a weird emotion in his eyes, I couldn't quite tell what it was. Whatever it was, it made me shiver again. "Trust me."

I just nodded and looked down at his hand, Derrick removed it from my knee and gripped the steering wheel. I stared at his knuckles, white from the strain he was putting into holding the wheel. I shot him a questioning glance. He was like woman with all the mood swings.

5 minutes from his home, I found myself tapping my foot nervously. What if the vampire, Christopher apparently, was still blood thirsty? My heart pounded at the memory of him attacking me. I had never been more scared in my life then. I was _this _close to becoming a vampire's entrée. If it hadn't been for Derrick... I'd be dead right now. _But, if it hadn't been for Derrick I wouldn't have ever been in that situation in the first place, _I thought grimly. I shook away my negative thoughts, glancing at the beautiful vampire beside me. He looked at me, flashing a stunning smile. I grinned back at him. _No, _I thought, _I'm lucky to have met him. _

After parking his Mustang and opening my door for me, once again, we started walking up to his house. Again, Derrick opened the door and held it for me until I walked in, closing it behind us. I shook my head, smiling to myself.

As if he read my thoughts Derrick said, "I'm just keeping chivalry alive." He smiled before leading me deeper into his house.

The mansion was even more beautiful on the inside than out. Even though they just moved here, everything was unpacked. It looked like they'd been living here for months not days. The floor in the foyer was wooden (A/N: I just completely drew a blank at what wooden, tiled, floors are called... crap lol. It's 1:00am, gimme a break) while the walls were a plain white. Derrick led me to the left through an arched doorway into what I assumed was the living room, occupied by 4 other people, but we'll get to them in a second. The carpet was beige, the walls a deep red, and the furniture was all black leather. The fireplace was HUGE. At least 3 me's could fit in it. There was a bay window, as observed outside, with a red cushion and pillows. I also noticed a book laying open in it. The furniture consisted of two couches and two arm chairs, oh and a small table in between on of the couches and armchairs.

Now, the people. 3 guys, 1 girl. I already knew Jason and Cassandra. In one of the armchairs was Jason, who is tall, about 6'4", with blond hair that slightly covers his eyes. Every once in awhile, he flicks it out of his vision, giving him that skater look. He dresses like one, too. With the usual T's and skinny jeans or some shorts. He was also very hot.

Sitting on the couch nearest the fireplace, Cassandra, who's short, shorter than me. And that's just sad. She has wavy, dark blond hair that reaches the middle of her back. She looked like the regular preppy girl with her outfits, always stylish. But she seemed nice. Though talkative. She was also stunningly beautiful, the envy of any model. I guess it's a vampire thing.

As for the other two, both sitting on the other couch, they were both men who looked to be in their mid-twenties. One had dark, dark brown hair, that I assumed was William, while the other had jet black hair. My eyes widened at the sight of Christopher. This was the vampire that attacked me. I took a deep breath, telling myself to chill out. He looked totally different than before. He was clean, no blood, new clothes, hair slicked back neatly. He was safe. No mesmerizing eyes, no sharp fangs. He was safe. I exhaled slowly.

Derrick led me farther into the room and gestured to the unoccupied armchair as he plopped down on the couch next to it. I sat down slowly, nervously. All eyes were on me, which I did not like. I never liked being the center of attention. I always managed to embarrass myself in some way.

"Holly, this is William, Jason, Cassandra, and Christopher," Derrick said pointing to each person as he spoke, "William, Jason, Cassie, Christopher, this is Holly."

I gulped. They all gave me small smiles, except Christopher. He was looking at me guiltily, ashamed. I glanced at him reassuringly before turning my attention back to everyone else. I knew he hadn't meant to attack me. It was his instinct. Might as well let him know he was forgiven.

"So, you know we're vampires." William said, his eyebrows raised a little.

I smiled slightly at his bluntness, "Yes, sir."

He scoffed, "Do I really look old enough to be called 'sir'?"

"No s-, no, sorry." I said trying not to laugh at his offended face. Jason snickered.

"Well, anyway, can we trust you with our secret?" he asked seriously, he continued before I could answer, "It's very important that we can. If humans found out about the existence of vampires, there would be a war. Innocent people could die, if this secret is revealed. Humans would immediately label us as dangerous and try to kill us. No offense, but humans don't really stop to think about these things before taking action."

"None taken," I said nodding, "But you can trust me. I won't tell anybody. After all, it's not my secret to tell."

William nodded at me approvingly, "Good. I'm glad you understand. You seem like a nice girl with a good head on her shoulders. I wouldn't want to have to do anything drastic." I winced. "No worries, I have a feeling we can trust you completely."

I nodded, "Thank you."

"No, thank you. For keeping all this to yourself. I'm sure it's pretty tough, holding something this big back."

"Yeah, it does get hard sometimes, but, I'm good at keeping secrets." I glanced over at Derrick, who was imitating William's approving look. I smiled at him, and he returned the gesture. I saw Jason looking at us suspiciously out of the corner of my eye.

"Now that we know we can trust Holly, we need to discuss something else," William turned to Christopher, "Time to get the whole story. How were you injured?"

Christopher leaned forward, "Well, I was out hunting, I live about 150 miles north of here, and... it's kind of a blur... it happened so fast. I was just attacked, out of nowhere. Barely had time to react. I was thrown around like a rag doll... this vampire must have been _old._ I think... I think he might have been an Old One." What?

Everyone in the room looked quizzical, but I don't think it was because they didn't know what he meant by Old One like me.

"How? Old Ones are good, they never attack anyone, they follow the rules," Jason asked him.

Christopher shrugged, "Maybe he's gone rogue... it's happened before." Everyone nodded grimly. Jeez, talk about feeling left out. I looked at Derrick for answers.

"Another story for another time," he whispered.

I just nodded and turned my attention back to Christopher. My mind was racing. What was all this about Old Ones? And the rogue Old One? I shrugged mentally, time will tell.

"After being thoroughly thrashed, I was left on the ground, near-death, without ever even getting a glimpse of his face. Hours later, I was found by you 2," he said gesturing to Jason and Cassandra.

About an hour or two later, after much talking, it was late, and time for me to go home before Mom called the police. We didn't talk about the killer vampire, or vampires in general the whole time. William and Christopher eventually moved their conversation on something that happened centuries ago to the kitchen, while Derrick, Jason, Cassandra, and I stayed in the living room and just learned stuff about each other. I learned Derrick is 143 years old (wow!), much to his distaste, Cassandra is 122, Jason is 84, and William is 569. I also got to know them in general, their personalities. Cassie and I became fast friends, while Jason was okay, he had a bad attitude, but I knew he could be sweet when he wanted to be.

So, if I could just pretend that the majority of my day never happened, it would have been an okay day. But I can't. It sucks, but I can't. I can officially dub today, Saturday, the worst day of my life.

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**It only takes 1 minute to review. 1 minute to say whatever you think about my story. I'd greatly appreciate it if you used up 1 MINUTE, of your time, to inspire me to write the next chapter of this story. Thanks :D.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yo. :P Thank you!! To my reviewers. You guys rock. You deserve treats! -gives cupcakes- Here's the next chapter! R&R.**

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The next day, Sunday, went by slowly, Derrick came over around 10am and said he had to hunt, so we couldn't hang out. To my relief, I learned that Derrick's family and the majority of all vampires drink animal blood instead of human. For the rest of the day, I listened to music, surfed the Internet a little, and read. Come Monday, the day was a lot better than Saturday. Well, at least until I got to school.

I drove to school a little late due to oversleeping. I had been exhausted last night and not even my obnoxiously loud alarm clock could wake me up this morning. My wake up call had been Zack jumping on my bed, which was not very pleasant.

Once I parked my Camero, I began walking to the entrance of my high school. I felt a sting of pain when I remembered I usually met up with Nick before homeroom at the school doors. _Not today. _I felt like crying, but I blinked hard, dismissing the tears before walking into my homeroom class 3 minutes late.

"You've been late a lot these past few days," Emily said as I sat down at my desk.

I shrugged, not looking at her, adjusting my notebooks and pencils like I had OCD or something. She stared at me suspiciously.

"What's up with you, Holly?" She asked, then looking thoughtful added, "Does it have something to do with Derrick Sorenson?"

My head whipped around to face her, "What?"

Emily shrugged, "Well the day he came to this school was the same day you started sulking around and zoning out on me and Nick," she explained. I winced when she said Nick's name. Maybe he's forgiven me, though? I frowned. No, probably not.

Of course Emily caught my expression and asked, "Something wrong? You better give me a straight and honest answer, 'cause I'm getting sick and tired of 'Oh, yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me'," she said trying to imitate my voice, making me laugh.

Suddenly a look of false amazement came over Emily's face, "WOW! You laughed! Call the newspapers! The local news station! Heck, call CNN!"

I chuckled, "It hasn't been that long, Emily." My smile drooped a little when I realized I really hadn't been doing much laughing around my friends lately, just sulking.

Emily shook her head at me, "Now, tell Emily what's wrong," she said, making a steeple with her hands.

I grinned for a second, but let it drop before speaking, heaving a shaky sigh, "Well... I had a fight with Nick."

Emily frowned, "About what?"

I sighed again while saying, "Derrick."

"What happened?"

I explained to her in detail how it went down, she sat listening intently.

"... he's never yelled at me like that before, Emily! I don't think we'll ever be friends again," I said exasperatedly.

She hit me in the arm, "Don't say that, Holly. You and Nick are tight, you're bff's, you'll always be friends. Just give him some time to get over it. He's just acting like a jealous baby."

"I still don't see why you think he's jealous," I said with a frown.

"Holly!" She smacked me on the forehead with her palm.

I rubbed the spot she hit me, "What was that for?!"

"Shoulda had a V8," she explained laughing.

I glared at her and turned around in my seat.

By lunchtime Emily had cheered me up a lot. She got me laughing and smiling non-stop. I felt really thankful for having such a great friend. But when I thought about this I stopped smiling, because I realized my other best friend, wasn't my friend anymore. I kind of felt like someone I really loved died, I didn't wanna hear all the 'it'll be okay's from Emily, it only made it worse. I'm glad it really isn't that he died, because that way, there's still a chance we'll forgive each other.

"Well, it was fun while it lasted," Emily said, sighing when she saw my smile disappear.

"Sorry," I apologized while opening the café doors. We grabbed our food trays and started walking towards our table. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Nick sitting there, glaring at me. I grimaced and turned to Emily.

"I'm gonna sit somewhere else, Emily." I couldn't face Nick.

"Whe-" She started, but I started walking away already. I looked around the cafeteria and locked eyes with Derrick. He smiled brilliantly at me and I began walking towards him.

When I reached the table I sat down beside Derrick and across from Cassie.

"Hey, Holly!" Cassie exclaimed, smiling broadly.

"Hey," I replied. At first, I had been nervous around them, but after a couple of hours I became really comfortable with them.

I looked over at the blond-haired vampire next to Cassie, "Sup, Jason." He simply did that nod all guys do as a greeting sometimes. I smiled and turned to Derrick.

"Hey."

"Hey," he said grinning.

"You guys like this school so far?" I asked them.

"S'okay," Jason replied shrugging, "Just like any other high school."

"I think it's fun!" Cassie said happily, winking at a cute guy at the table beside us, making me laugh.

"I like it a lot," Derrick said staring at me, "I'm glad we came here." I felt my cheeks heat up slightly.

Jason scoffed, "High school is so boring."

"Why is that?" I asked, "There's drama, scandals, football games, girls," I said gesturing to all the girls staring dreamy-eyed at either Jason or Derrick, while some were sending me jealous glares. I flinched when I saw Nick shooting daggers at me (or Derrick, maybe?) through narrowed eyes.

"It's always the same thing," he replied, "Same drama, same scandals, football is boring, and vampire/human relationships don't tend to work out all that well."

I felt my heart drop at his last statement. I glanced at Derrick who was staring thoughtfully into his untouched mac n' cheese.

"Doesn't mean we can't have any fun," Cassie said winking.

I glanced back over at Nick, who was attacking his chicken with a fork violently. My gaze then rested on Emily, who was sending me a puzzled look. I just turned away, facing the vampires again.

"Hey Holly, you wanna-" Cassie stopped mid-sentence and angled her head to the side slightly, like she was listening to something. Which she probably was. With her vampire hearing she could tune into every conversation going on in the café clearly. Derrick and Jason did the same, making me feel a bit left out. Cassie let out a 'hm' sound.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

Derrick opened his mouth to answer, but stopped, closed it, and his golden eyes widened, "Uh oh."

"'Uh oh'? What 'Uh oh'?"

He gestured to a group of kids a few tables away, they were all leaning toward one person I recognized as Larry Smith. He was one of those kids who came to school everyday with some story to tell. I never really listened to them, they're usually pretty ridiculous.

"That kid says the police came to his house last night," he said.

"And?"

"They found a body on his property apparently," Jason said solemnly.

My brow furrowed, that still didn't explain the 'Uh oh'.

"The body," explained Derrick, "was completely drained of blood."

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**Sorry that this is so short! I woulda totally made it longer, but I wanted a cliffie. Hehe. Review, or no update! I'm gonna be mean and set a minimum reviews lolz, I want atleast 10 pleeease! Thank you. Peace out.**


	10. Chapter 10

**OK, I tried waiting til I got 10 reviews on this chapter, but y'all were close enough. Here ya go! Oh and THANK YOU SOO MUCH, PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED! **

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Uh oh, indeed.

"He could just be making it up," I said hopefully, "I mean, that _is _Larry Smith. He's always going around telling false stories."

Jason shook is head, "I can hear the truth in his voice."

"So vampires can hear when people are lying?"

Derrick nodded this time, answering with a small smile, "Built in lie detector."

"Well that just sucks. No getting out of things with you guys," I said putting my hands on the table and leaning back in my chair.

The three of them chuckled, but quickly became serious again, "We need to go check it out, make sure it _was _actually done by a vampire. There _are _some twisted sickos who would drain the blood from bodies after murdering them," Derrick said. I shuddered. Just the thought of someone like that on the loose near where I live is very, very scary.

"We'll go after school then," Cassie said, then wrinkled her nose in disappointment, "There goes my plans for the evening."

Jason shook his head disapprovingly, "You don't need to be hanging around with humans anyway."

"We hang out with Holly!" She protested, "And she's human."

"Yeah, but she knows about us," Derrick reasoned, Jason nodded in agreement while smirking at me. I blushed slightly. I'll never get used to how gorgeous these people are.

I saw Derrick not-so-subtly glare at Jason, who was now talking, "Finally, something exciting."

I looked at him skeptically, "Exciting? More like... frightening."

"Nah," he said flexing his large muscles, "Whoever this sucker is, the three of us can take him."

I laughed slightly, but then said thoughtfully, "What if it's that Old One, or whatever?"

I actually saw fear flash in Jason's eyes. Derrick replied grimly, "Then it would take a lot more than just the three of us."

Suddenly a pain shot through my body, but not in one certain place, it was like it hurt everywhere. I cried out, my back arching then quickly bending over with my head on the table, breathing heavily. The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. What the hell was _that?_

"Holly?" Derrick's panicked and concerned, but very soothing voice reached my ears.

I sat up, wiping the cold sweat that had broken out on my forehead away, "I'm fine. Just a... back spasm or something," I said shrugging it off.

Jason eyed me suspiciously, "Gonna be alright?" he asked.

"Mhmm," I replied, trying to sound absolutely fine. Even though I wasn't. Whatever that was, it _definitely _wasn't a back spasm. But Derrick and the others have more than enough to worry about with the body lacking blood and the Old One who is trying to murder their own species. Hmm. The whole 'Old One who is trying to murder their own species' would sound a lot more deranged if humans didn't do the same thing everyday. But, I must admit, having a ridiculously old, powerful vampire killing people is a lot more scarier than just people killing people.

--V--

After school, I convinced the 3 vampires to take me with them to Larry's property, where the body was found, even though they said I shouldn't come cause of the killer vampire that could still be lurking there. But, eventually, they let me get in the car and come. I mean, I got them to protect me, right?

I called Mom on my cell phone on the way there, telling her I might be late, and not to worry. After that was done, I texted Emily, canceling the plan to go over to her house after school. She didn't reply. I actually felt really bad for ditching her, we had talked about having a 'just girls' slumber party that we didn't usually get to do a lot, cause of Nick. Emily had been really excited, I'm probably really letting her down.

I stared out the window from my seat up front next to Derrick, who was driving. I had a killer headache, it hurt more than any I've ever experienced. I discreetly started rubbing my temples. My brain felt like it was going to start oozing out of my ears.

The car ride was silent, nobody really having much to say. So it was a relief to get out of the Mustang once we reached where Larry lived.

We figured the body would still be there. Larry had said the body was found right before he left for school while taking his dog out. So I'm sure the CSI, FBI... ABC, were still checking it out. It wasn't too hard to figure out where to go, as there were police cars and SUV's parked on the street along with the Mustang, and people bustling back and forth between the cars and somewhere in Larry's backyard.

"What now?" I asked, "It's not like we can just waltz in there and take a look at the body."

"We could like, freeze time and check it out, we won't get caught then," Jason suggested casually.

"You can do that?!" I gaped.

He burst out laughing along with his brother and sister, "No, haha, I was just, hahaha, messing with you."

I glared at him, but couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped me, "Seriously, though," I said when their laughter subsided.

"Well, I mean, we only need to glance at it," Cassie said shrugging.

I raised an eyebrow. Derrick explained, "Our brain is... well, kinda hyper. We can process things extremely quickly. We have to be able to do that when we're running as fast as we do, so we can take in our surroundings and not run into trees or something."

"So, if you just run past the body, extremely fast, like a blur, you can see if the person was killed by a vampire?" I asked, impressed.

Jason nodded, "I'll do it," he said before Derrick or Cassie could even open their mouths.

He smiled and winked at us before disappearing, and reappearing just as quickly. The smug expression was gone though, replaced by a grim one.

"It was definitely done by a vampire," he said, "to a vampire."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said holding my hand up, "The person that was killed... is a vampire?"

"Yep," he answered.

Derrick and Cassie exchanged a glance before disappearing.

"Clearly, they don't trust me," Jason said, rolling his eyes.

I giggled as the other two returned with the same revelation.

"Definitely done by a vampire. A freaky, powerful one, too," Derrick said, flipping his hair out of his eyes. I swear, I almost swooned. I kicked myself mentally. Stop staring! Derrick smiled brilliantly at me, and I returned the gesture.

"That body was sooo gross," Cassie said scrunching up her face in disgust.

"I wish I could see it," I mumbled, my curiosity was eating at my brain.

Cassie shrugged, "If you say so."

She reached out to me, resting her hand on the side of my head, "What the-"

Suddenly an image popped into my head. It was of a body, completely torn up, the neck especially was ripped apart, by what looked like teeth. Fangs, obviously. The dead vampire was not so beautiful anymore. I couldn't even tell what his hair color was, due to the blood caked in it.

The police probably figured it was a mountain lion. But once they studied closer, I'm sure they'll find the retractable fangs, and the fact that the person was dead before this.

The image suddenly disappeared, my vision replaced.

"_What _was _that_?" I asked Cassie.

Derrick replied instead, "Cassie has mind powers."

Oh no. "Can she read my mind?"

"Hello! I'm right here. And yes, I can read your mind, when I want to," she said with a sly wink at me.

I blushed a deep red. _Has she heard all those thoughts about Derrick?_

"Yep," she said grinning.

I blushed even redder, if that was possible.

A voice was suddenly heard in my head, _And I can hear all those thoughts about you from Derrick._

_What thoughts?_ I thought at her.

She just stood there studying her nails, smiling.

"What thoughts?!" I exclaimed aloud.

She just shrugged. "Ca-!"

Derrick cut me off, "Girls. Seriously," he said shaking his head, "We need to get that body out of here. Those policemen and FBI and CSI-"

"And ABC," Cassie said laughing, with a wink at me. I blushed again. I need to stop thinking thoughts that make me sound stupid.

Derrick ignored her and continued, "-will figure out that that person is not human, and that will definitely not go over well."

Jason nodded, "How are we gonna get the dead vamp out of here without anybody noticing it just disappear out of thin air?"

Derrick shrugged, shaking his head, "I don't know."

"Maybe we could distract them," I said gesturing to myself and Cassie, who nodded thoughtfully, obviously knowing what I had in mind.

--A--

"HEEEEYYY!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Cassie giggled as every single head turned in our direction. We started laughing dancing around like idiots. Everyone looked at us curiously. The ME and other people around the body had stood up and started looking bewildered.

Finally, the ME shouted, "Get those two out of here! We've got work to do!"

A couple of scary looking men started jogging toward us. We ran, still laughing, back around the house and to the Mustang. Cassie jumped into the driver's seat twisting the key in the ignition. When the engine roared to life, she peeled out of the temporary parking space and sped off down the road.

We were still laughing, the look on those people's faces were priceless. Cassie put her hand on my head again, "Check this out," she said giggling.

A scene started playing out in my mind's eye, no doubt Cassie got it from the mind of one of the workers. The ME and everyone else turned back to their work after the two crazy girls were chased off, but well, their work was gone. The ME gaped at the now empty place in the middle of the yellow tape.

"What the f-"

The scene went away and I burst out laughing again, "The look on his face!"

"I know!" she exclaimed, grinning and laughing.

By the time we reached their mansion, our laughter had subsided and we became serious again. Cassie parked Derrick's car in the driveway, and we got out, walking up to the door quickly. Derrick and Jason had snatched the body and ran all the way home, so they were already here.

We entered the living room to find a messy dead vampire on the floor. William was crouched on the floor next to it, thoughtfully studying it. Christopher stood a few feet away, looking at the vampire with a weird glint in his eye. I arched an eyebrow, but shrugged it off as anger for the vampire-killing vampire.

Derrick and Jason were nowhere to be found.

"They're upstairs, in Derrick's room," Cassie said, explaining.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," I said, following my now laughing vampire friend up a flight of stairs.

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**Watcha think?? **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! Here's chapter 11! Lots of thanks to all my reviewers, I love you all!! hehe. R&R.**

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I was wrong. I did get used to it, after about a week. Eventually, I got to the point where Cassie answering mine and the other's thoughts was just natural. I even talked to her mentally a few times, being too lazy to use my mouth.

It's also been 5 days since I had that 'back spasm', and so far nothing like that has happened. Though, ever since then, I've had a non-stop headache. It was very annoying and frustrating before, but by Wednesday I was used to it, and ignored it. I didn't mention this to anybody, I had no clue what was going on with me, and I didn't think it mattered much. But, of course, Cassie probably knew something was up with me, though she hasn't mentioned it to me or anybody else.

At least, until this morning.

Cassie skipped up to me on Friday morning before school, happy as she always is. I was just getting out of my Camaro, taking the keys out of the ignition and shoving them in my purse.

"Hey, Holly!" She exclaimed hugging me.

"Hi, Cassie," I said, pulling away and grinning at her. I turned back around to duck into my car and get my text books from the passenger's seat.

"Can we talk?" She sounded serious. She's never serious. This made me stop what I was doing and straighten up, facing her fully.

"Of course," I told her, my brows furrowed in confusion. There must be something wrong. Is it Derrick? I started to panic.

"No, no. Calm down. Derrick's fine, he's walking with Jason," Cassie said gesturing to the two vampires who were walking into to the school talking. Derrick turned around briefly, smiling brightly at me. I smiled back before turning to Cassie again.

"What is it, then?"

She hesitated, "Are you alright?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Um, ye-" I started, she cut me off.

"I can still read your mind, Holly," Cassie said sternly, "And it's... _hurt_, lately, to go into your mind."

"What do you mean?" I asked, worried. Why would it hurt for her to read my mind?

"It's like, every time I do, I get this horrible headache," she said, wincing.

When she said that, I suddenly became conscious of my killer headache, and I cringed slightly, putting my hands up to my temples.

"Holly?"

"Y-yeah. I think I know why," I told her, "I've had this... headache, it's been bothering me a lot."

She nodded, "You've had it ever since that spasm." It wasn't a question.

I almost asked her how she knew that, but then remembered. "Yeah. I don't know what's wrong."

"It reminds me of..." she trailed off.

"What?"

"It's not even possible, you weren't bitten," she said, shrugging it off.

Derrick had never told any of them that I was bitten, I didn't know why, but he had his reasons. I tried desperately tried to not think what I wanted to think, I tried shoving other thoughts to the front of my mind so she wouldn't hear it. I had to get away from her.

"Yeah, um, I wasn't, I'm probably just getting sick, but Cassie, I'm gonna be late for class, so uh, see you later," I waved slightly and speed-walked away from her. I learned her range of reading minds is 100ft. Thank God our home rooms were so far apart. I slowed down as I neared my classroom, the halls were almost empty, the only people left were the skippers or regularly late people. I realized I had forgotten my text books in my car and sighed. _Too late for that now. _I took a deep breath to calm myself down and slipped in right as the late bell rang.

For the rest of the day I couldn't focus on any of my classes. Ever since Cassie had reminded me of my headache, all I'd done was sit there, looking like I was paying attention, and rubbing my temples. Of course even that didn't soothe the pain. I would've taken the Advil in my purse, but I had learned quickly that medicine had absolutely so effect on it.

All the thinking I did didn't help either. What had my spasm and headache reminded Cassie of? And what did it have to do with being bitten? Was it some side effect? The questions never ended.

At lunch I sat with Derrick, Cassie, and Jason again, as I had all week. I glanced up at Nick and Emily, who were sitting at their table. Nick sent me a deadly look, and I glared at him. I wasn't even sad about it anymore. I was just pissed off. Why couldn't he just accept I was friends with Derrick, and get over it?

I ripped my gaze away from him and focused on Derrick instead. He was so gorgeous. And nice. And funny. And perfect. I didn't even refrain from thinking these things because of Cassie anymore. She knew what I thought.

I was falling for Derrick.

He's everything I ever wanted in a guy. He was a perfect gentleman. I could hold an intelligent conversation with him. And also, he didn't agree with everything I said. Yes, I liked that. I liked that he had his own opinions, and that he wasn't afraid to share them.

I felt someone nudge my shoulder and I looked up into his beautiful golden eyes. Derrick smiled, and mouthed something to me. Why didn't he just say it aloud?

I shook my head, saying I didn't understand, "What?"

Wait. I didn't hear myself say it. Maybe I didn't say it. So I repeated it, "What?" Again, nothing. Derrick gave me a confused look and said something again, I didn't hear it. I looked around the cafeteria, at all the students, their mouths moving, but I heard no sound. The bell must've rung, because people started getting up to leave.

The silence was deafening.

I kept the panic off my face, trying not to let anybody see that something was wrong. How had I gone deaf in just a few seconds of my life? What happened?

Suddenly sound hit me like a giant, painful wave. The bell rang _so loud._ The departing students were _screaming_. The chairs being scraped across the floor were completely _deafening._

I heard everything, a hundred times louder. It was overwhelming. So, I fainted.

When I woke up, my ears were ringing terribly, my head hurt worse than it ever had this week, and there were 3 vampires standing over me. I realized I was laying on the cafeteria floor. I must've fallen out of my chair. I sat up on my elbows, making the painful ringing increase. I winced and looked around. The huge room was empty, we were the only ones in it.

"What happened?" I asked groggily.

"You fainted," Jason said. And then it all came back. _I went deaf. Even if it was for only a minute, I went deaf, and then... ouch. I don't even want to think about it. _And it's a good thing I didn't cause Cassie was listening to my thoughts with a furrowed brow.

"I need to get my ears checked," I told her, trying to cover it up, "They must be infected or something. And, with this headache... I guess it was too much."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Derrick asked.

I smiled at them reassuringly, "Yeah, like I told Cassie this morning, I'm probably just getting sick."

With that, I got up and started walking towards the door, waving as I went, "Better get to class," I told them.

I started running, not wanting to be asked anymore questions, or for Cassie to hear my thoughts. I ran into the girl's bathroom and slid down and sat against the wall with my head in my hands. It hurt _so _much. Like someone beat my head with a hammer a million times. I dug in my purse and retrieved the Advil, swallowing a few pills, just for the heck of it. Of course, it didn't help. My ears were still ringing slightly, the pain of all that intensified sound at once made me dizzy just thinking about it.

What's happening to me?

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**Ooh. What _is _going on?? Sorry the chapter was kinda short, I promise I'll try to make it longer next time. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey peeps! Thanks a bunch to all my reviewers, cookies for all -hands cookies- This chapters gonna have _a lot_ of Jason in it. One, because I promised my friend, and two, because he's awesome.**

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I sat in the bathroom for at least an hour, one more hour until school ended. At first, I felt bad for skipping class, but I really didn't care. I was going through inner turmoil, and going to class wouldn't be a very good idea in my current state. I received a lot of weird looks from girls coming in and out the bathroom, but I didn't even acknowledge their presence, instead just sat, staring at the wall opposite me, with my head on my knees, arms wrapped around my legs.

Tears of frustration leaked from my eyes, _what _is going on with me? My life is so messed up. I'm forgetting how to be myself. All these things that have been happening to me; vampires barging into my life, it's changed me. And not for the better.

I was bitten by a vampire. That's a fact I've ignored for the past few days, thinking that anything to do with that was over and done with. I laughed once. Man, I was wrong. This headache... these spasms of pain... my hearing going in and out of focus... were they side effects of the bite?

I groaned and buried my head, my black hair falling over my legs. This is all so wrong. These things shouldn't be happening to me. I looked back up, resting my chin on my right kneecap, then letting my head fall sideways thoughtfully. I needed to talk to someone. Someone who knows about vampires of course, which only leaves a vampire. And someone who would give me answers. Cassie is ruled out, I wouldn't want someone in my head the whole time I was talking to them. Derrick. Derrick is the guy to talk to.

"Holly?"

I looked up at the familiar voice calling my name, then immediately wanted to sink into the floor. Emily. I had a lot of explaining to do. The last time I talked to her was Monday when I called her to cancel our plans. I had pretty much ignored her in homeroom all week, caught up in my own problems and thoughts.

"Hey, Em," I said weakly, my voice cracked from lack of use.

"What're you doing, Holly? You've missed classes," Emily said, crouching down beside me.

"I know..." I trailed off, playing with my shoelace.

We sat in silence for a minutes before Emily spoke, "Somethings been going on with you lately. You haven't been acting like yourself. You've been all moody. You just sit there thinking, cowering in your own shell," she looked over at me, "You gotta let people in, Holly. I'm just trying to help you, and you're not letting me."

"I don't need help, I'm fine," I told her simply.

Emily sighed, standing up, "This is what I'm talking about," she said, gesturing to me, "You tell me you're fine, there's nothing wrong, when _clearly _something is. I can't deal with you when you're like this, Holly."

I didn't say anything. Truth is, I didn't know what to say. What she was saying was true, but I wasn't going to admit it.

She huffed and began walking out of the bathroom, "Come find me when you're ready to talk," she said coldly, not looking back.

I winced. Now both of my best friends are mad at me. At least one of them had a good reason. I sighed and pulled myself to my feet. The clock on the wall told me it was 5 minutes until the final bell rang. Not caring, I walked out of the bathroom and down the hall, to the double doors that led to the parking lot. Once outside, I headed to my car, right as the bell rang, and a steady stream of students poured into the parking lot.

Suddenly, I was stabbed. I doubled over and looked down, expecting to see a knife through my chest. But there wasn't. The pain was unbearable, I fell to the ground, my chest feeling like someone was trying to rip it apart with a spoon or something equally dull. The pain spread out like roots from a tree, infecting my whole torso. I wrapped my arms around myself, biting my lip to keep myself from screaming. Blood dripped off my chin and I realized how hard I was biting.

I jerked around, arching my back and curling up again. I must've looked like I was having a seizure. Luckily, though, I was behind a Mustang, out of view. Wait. A Mustang? Oh sh-

"Holly!"

I recognized the voice as Jason's. Suddenly, I felt two cold hands on my shoulders, holding me to the ground. My back arched again, my eyes rolled back into my head, as the worst of the pain shot through me, right to my heart.

I went limp, the terrible pain subsiding. The cold hands were removed and I curled up into a ball, sobbing quietly.

"Holly?"

I quickly wiped the tears away, remembering Jason was still there. I didn't want him to see me cry. I sat up and faced him, he was crouched down beside me, his expression was of concern. He rubbed his chin pointedly, raising his eyebrows, and I realized I must've had blood all over my mouth. I lifted the hem of my shirt, wiping it away quickly, ignoring the throbbing of my lip.

"Damn, Holly. It looked like an exorcism," he said with his eyebrows raised.

I laughed once, then became serious again, looking straight into his golden eyes, "Please don't tell anyone."

He looked taken aback, "Why the hell not?"

"Because... you guys have other things to worry about. And I don't want to make a big deal out of this, it may be nothing," I told him, shrugging.

Jason stood up, "Nothing? Are you serious? Nothing?! That was so _not _nothing. That was _far _from nothing. In fact, if you put nothing and _this_," he gestured to me, referring to the situation, "on a map, _this_ would be the U.S. and nothing would be freaking China!"

I sighed, "I don't know... I still don't want anyone to know..."

He shook his head, laughing once before sitting next to me again, "You are the weirdest girl I've ever met."

I shrugged, "What can I say?," I smirked at him, "I'm just awesome like that."

Jason chuckled, then stood up, offering his other hand to me, "Derrick and Cassie are coming."

I grabbed his hand and pulled myself up and gave him a pleading look, "Please don't-"

He waved me away, "I won't, I won't. Chillax, chica, they ain't hearing nothing about this from me."

"What about-"

"Cassie?" Jason grinned, "She can't read my mind."

I sent him a quizzical look and he answered, "Just one of my many wicked talents."

I giggled and said jokingly, "Yes, Jason, I'm sure you're _very _talented."

"Yeah, Holly," he smirked, "I could show you sometime."

My jaw dropped, "Uh, no thanks."

Jason winked at me before Derrick and Cassie came in sight, walking toward us.

"Hey guys," I greeted them.

"Hey Hol-" Derrick stopped mid-sentence, "What happened to your lip?!"

My eyes widened, "Oh! I just fell a minute ago and bit my lip, it bled a lot," I lied smoothly looking down at my shirt where the blood stain was.

"Are you alright?" Cassie asked with genuine concern. I guess they believe me.

"I'm fine, it's okay," I reassured them, "I'm just a klutz."

Jason snorted and I sent him a glare before sliding into the passenger's seat. Derrick cranked up the car and about 15 minutes later we arrived at their mansion.

"We need to discuss some things with William, about the vampire-killing-vampire," Derrick said as we entered the house and walked into the living room. We all sat down, me in between Derrick and Cassie on the couch, Jason in an armchair, and William was sitting on the couch with Christopher opposite us.

"After a few days of working on the body, we learned it was a very old vamp, probably a few centuries or more. And he was ripped to shreds," William said, getting straight to the point.

Derrick spoke up, "Then whoever killed him must have been extremely old, maybe even over a thousand years."

Christopher's mouth twitched, his eyes narrowing. Was I the only one noticing his suspicious behavior?

"I think our theory of the killer being an Old One was correct," William said solemnly.

After that we talked more about the Old One who was rogue and killing other vampires for no reason that we knew of. We came up with theories, like he was trying to make a statement, or he was a psycho and got a thrill from killing (that was Jason's).

I left around 6, after my mom called my cell and told me to be home for dinner. I stayed up almost all night pondering what was going on with _me_, and what was going on with the vampires.

The next day, I walked to the school after a hearty breakfast of... bacon, and retrieved my car. I decided to go up to the mansion and see what the vamps were doing. When I got there I noticed Derrick's Mustang was there so I parked and went to knock on the door.

Christopher answered the door a couple of minutes later. I hastily walked passed him, not liking the weird look in his eye. Finding no one in the living room, I wandered up stairs. I heard a faint sound of music playing and followed it to a room near the end of the hall. I knocked, and when no one answered, I pushed the door open.

Jason was playing an acoustic guitar, his head was bent over, his blond skater-style hair falling into his eyes. I watched as his fingers flew through the chords professionally. He's probably had a lot of time to practice.

"Another one of your many wicked talents?" I asked.

He jumped and his head shot up, he smirked when he saw me, "Why yes, yes it is."

Jason stood up, propping his guitar against his desk. His room was big, with navy blue walls, a desk, a bookshelf filled with books, a dresser, another shelf filled with CD's, and a huge stereo sound system. He had no bed, but of course, he didn't need one.

"Nice place you got here," I commented.

Jason grinned, "Thank ya," he said, "Derrick and Cassie are out hunting, they'll be gone until late tonight.

"Why didn't you go?"

"I'm going tomorrow," he shrugged.

I thought about leaving, since Derrick wasn't here... I had decided I wanted to talk to him today, but then I realized Jason would be better to talk to, since he already knew something was up.

"Jason, can we talk?"

He smirked, "Sure, we can 'talk'"

I rolled my eyes, "Seriously."

He sighed,_ "Fine_, what about?"

"You know that... thing that happened in the parking lot?" He nodded and I continued, "Well, things like that happened before then, too."

"What kind of things?"

"First it was that... 'back spasm'."

Jason snorted, "I figured that wasn't what it really was."

I nodded, "Then when I fainted, it was because... well, I had gone deaf for a second," he looked at me quizzically, "I don't know how... it just happened. And then... all the sound came back suddenly, but _so _much louder than before. That's what caused me to faint."

He stared at me intently for a second before realization washed over his face and his eyes widened, "Oh, shit."

"What?" I asked, worried.

"You weren't..." Jason paused, "No, you couldn't have been-"

"Bitten?" I sighed, "Yes, I was."

He froze, "No. No, no, no."

"What is it?"

Jason shook his head.

"What is it?!" I repeated, "Tell me! I'm tired of not knowing!"

"Holly..." His face was completely serious, the joking face I was used to was gone. He looked sad. And scared.

"Tell me," I said quietly.

"Holly, I think... you may be... Changing..."

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**Dun dun dun! And the plot thickens. Trust me, it gets thicker. I'm aiming to get at least 100 reviews with this chapter, so if you're the 100th reviewer, I'll do something special for ya, like... dedicate a WHOLE chapter to you. :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Finally! An update! Thanks for reviewing, I checked my email the day after I last updated and I had like 24 new emails lol, all of them being reviews, alerts, and favorites. You guys rock! I never thought I'd get over 100 reviews!**

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_Previously in Chapter 12:_

"_What is it?!" I repeated, "Tell me! I'm tired of not knowing!"_

"_Holly..." His face was completely serious, the joking face I was used to was gone. He looked sad. And scared._

"_Tell me," I said quietly._

"_Holly, I think... you may be... Changing..."_

* * *

"W-what?" I asked, not quite sure I heard him right.

Jason got up and started pacing, "You were bitten... you had that spasm the other day... temporary deafness, intensified hearing... the seizure... they're all apart of the Change. I remember going through that," he glanced at me, "Sucks for you."

I laughed once, humorlessly. I didn't know what to say, how to react. I'm Changing? Into a vampire? Why didn't Derrick tell me this would happen?

I looked up as Jason continued to speak, "The Change hasn't happened in over 80 years... I was one of the last to become a vampire. For some reason, vamps stopped producing venom. No one knows why. It's pretty messed up."

"So... I can't be Changing then?" I asked hopefully.

Jason shook his head and my heart sunk, "No, I'm pretty sure you are. I mean, there's no other explanation for the stuff happening to you."

I didn't want to believe him, but I knew he was right. My life is screwed up, and there's no going back. When people used to ask me, 'If you could go back in time and change something in your life, would you?', my answer was always no, but now, if someone was to ask me that, it would be a hell yes. I would go back and make it where I was never bitten, then I wouldn't be in the process of changing into a freakin' vampire!

But since time machines apparently haven't been invented yet, I am. Might as well learn about what's going on with me, "How does the Change work?"

Jason sat down in his chair, facing me, "Well, the Change starts once the venom has spread fully throughout your body, so maybe 3... 4 days after being bitten," Jason pondered for a moment and continued, "Your senses will start going in and out of focus. One minute you'll be able to smell Derrick's dirty socks 2 miles away, the next you wouldn't catch a whiff of anything even if it was shoved up your nostrils. You'll also be getting spasms of pain, which you've already experienced..." he winced, "Sometimes they're a few seconds long, and other times, they can last for hours. Turning into a vampire can take up to 2 to 3 weeks. They'll be the worst weeks of your life, babe, trust me."

I put my head in my hands. I cannot believe this is happening to me.

Sadness was clearly heard in Jason's voice as he said, "But there's something that makes this situation a ba-jillion times worse."

I groaned, "How bad could this possibly get?!"

"Pretty bad," he sighed, "Holly, people don't always make it through the Change..."

I gulped, "You mean...?"

Jason nodded grimly, "You either become a vampire... or die."

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**Wow, um, that was ridiculously short, sorry about that. Please review and don't tell me 'Great chapter, but it could've been longer' cause it couldn't have been. I have severe writer's block. You're lucky you got this much. **

**Much Love :P **

**Catt**


	14. Chapter 14

**Finally, Chapter 14! It's longer! Woo! But not very long, lol. Oh well. It's in Derrick's POV though! You probably won't understand what he's talking about at some points though. Hehe. I'm so evil.**

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**Derrick's POV**

Saturday morning at 5am, Cassie and I headed for North Western Washington to hunt. It had been about a week since I've hunted and I was _starving_. Instead of taking a car, we ran, over 200 miles. I needed the silence, Cassandra's constant chattering wasn't gonna do it for me today. I was frustrated.

Lucian hasn't contacted me for some time. I've been a sitting duck, not sure what to do. Also, killing that vampire was sloppy. He shouldn't have done that. My brother can be very stupid sometimes. If he isn't careful, he'll get caught, and our whole plan will be ruined.

I stopped running at the beginning of a thick forest. I was a much faster runner than Cassie, so I had to wait about 10 minutes before she finally appeared beside me.

She must have taken in my pensive expression, because she asked, "Whatcha thinkin'?"

"Nothing important," I grinned at her. It was fake. It was always fake.

Cassie scowled, "I hate that I can't read your mind."

_I don't. _I smirked before shooting into the woods. We always hunt far away from each other. I tell them I can't concentrate around others. Truthfully, I just like to get away from them as much as possible.

I stopped, lifting my head up to sniff the air for prey. I smelled the smoke of a fire, the odor of cooking human food. And blood. Warm blood, pumping constantly through their veins.

I sped towards the scent eagerly. It usually took forever. I was lucky today. When 2 green tents became visible I slowed down and smiled, my fangs extending in anticipation.

I paused at the edge of the clearing to examine the campsite. A group of 4 friends sat around a fire, hot dogs roasting over it, the smoke lazily drifting up into the sky. They were laughing, telling jokes and having a good time. I was about to end it.

I stepped out of the trees casually. One of the boys saw me first, saying, "Uh, can I help you?"

At this, the other 3 teenagers turned to stare at me, quizzical looks on their faces. Obviously wondering where the _hell _I came from. There were 2 girls and 2 guys. 2 A positives, a B negative, and an AB negative. I licked my lips. This will be a good meal.

I shrugged, my hands stuffed in the pockets of my jeans, "I'm just here for food."

The other guy said apologetically, "Sorry, man, but we don't have enough hot dogs for another person."

"That's okay," I told him, "_I wasn't thinking hot dogs_." As I said this my eyes darkened and I bared my fangs.

Before any shocked thoughts could even register in their brains, I had ripped 3 of their throats out.

I held down the first guy who had talked and grinned wickedly, "Hope you had a nice camping trip." And proceeded to sink my teeth into his neck.

--D--

I threw down the girl lazily, done feeding off of her. Her AB negative blood was delicious, one of my favorite blood types. I looked around the campsite, in perfect condition. Well, besides the 4 dead teenagers, of course. I smiled to myself before wiping the blood off my mouth with the back of my hand.

Glancing up at the now dark sky, I decided I should head back to where we arrived to meet Cassie. I took one last look at the mess I made before running out of clearing.

As I was sprinting back, something caught me around the middle, knocking me back hard into a tree. Recovering from the blow, I looked around, not seeing anyone. I raised an eyebrow. Suddenly something big dropped down from a branch above me onto the ground. I smirked.

Lucian.

"Always have to make dramatic entrances, don't you?" I asked him, folding my arms as he straightened up. He looked a lot like myself, but his jet black hair was spiky, his features were sharper, his eyes were slightly darker also, a burnt gold color.

"Of course." Lucian grinned at me, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and sticking one in his mouth. A book of matches appeared seemingly out of nowhere, he struck one, lighting up his face, making it look menacing. After lighting the cancer stick he put the matches back into his pocket and took a drag, blowing out the smoke in rings.

"Why haven't you made any contact with me this past week?" I asked sternly, "We made an agreement. You'll speak to me every other day. Not every other week, Luke."

He shrugged lazily, "I got sidetracked."

I shook my head, "With killing vampires? I thought you said you would wait 'til after we-"

Luke cut me off, "I know, I know. But, I couldn't help myself. So sue me," he took another drag on his cigarette before continuing, "So, do you know if she's changing yet?"

I shook my head, "So far, I'm not sure. I don't think she is. We have nothing to worry about, yet."

He nodded once, satisfied, "If she does, Derrick, you know what to do." Then he was gone, like a flash. Luke never stayed in one place long, an old habit, which apparently, die hard.

I took off, Cassie was probably already waiting for me. When I reached her, she was leaning up against a tree, looking bored.

When she spotted me she immediately began talking even though I was about 20 ft. away, "So how was your hunt? Did you catch anything? I got a grizzily bear," she grinned, "It was tasty."

I smiled at her and answered when I reached her, "It was good. I got a couple of mountain lions."

"Great," she said in her bubbly voice that annoyed me so.

We started running again, back home.

Yeah, I knew what I had to do. If Holly started changing. _I'd have to kill her._

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**Do you like my plot twist? Haha. You probably don't, it's horrible of me. I hope I don't lose readers! O.O Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Ok, here's a teeny little thing I'm attaching to my last chapter, to clear things up... maybe make people stop hating me -deflects tomatoes- I'm sorry!**

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_Previously in Chapter 14:_

Y_eah, I knew what I had to do. If Holly started changing. I'd have to kill her._

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But the thing is, I can't. I can't kill Holly and I know it. Not for moral reasons, no. I have no morals... trust me on that one... but...

It's not like I _meant _to fall in love with her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry I took so long to update. I just started school -.- and I've had a busy past week. Thanks to all my great and totally awesome reviewers! Hope you enjoy this chapter_ :)_**

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_**Holly**_

I stared wide-eyed at Jason. Did he say what I think he just said? That... I'd either turn into a vampire... _or die?_ I let my head drop into my hands.

"Th-" I was cut off violently with a bone-shattering shot of pain throughout my body. I heard my name being called distantly, but it was too hard to focus.

_**Derrick**_

We were almost home, Cassie and I. Of course, I was way faster, so Cassie was at least 30 or 40 miles behind me. My mind was racing almost as fast as my feet.

Kill Holly or betray Luke?

Listen to my head or my heart?

Head or heart, head or heart, head or heart...

_**Holly **_

I could feel my muscles tearing, bones breaking. I didn't realize I was on the floor until my head met cold hardwood. I heard loud screaming, it was hurting my ears, and I desperately wished it would stop.

I forced my eyes open, to see Jason knelt down beside me, his hands hovering over me, but not touching. It was as if he was _afraid _to touch me. I averted my gaze to my hands. Along with every other body part, they were killing me. I gagged when I saw why. My fingers were bent in odd angles, broken. They straightened themselves back and then bent again, over and over.

I closed my eyes, then realized the screaming was coming from _me._

_**Derrick**_

100 miles away from the mansion.

I picked up my pace. For some reason... I felt like I _needed _to get there. _Now._ It was a gut feeling, like when you get a bad feeling about something, when you choose one banana over another because you had a bad feeling about the other one, then you find out later your friend got sick from eating that banana.

I've got a bad feeling about this banana.

_**Holly**_

I can't move. I can't even jerk around like a girl having a seizure, because my muscles aren't _working. _I'm paralyzed.

And my bones are still doing the freaky break-heal-break thing. And _yes_, I can feel it. Just imagine having a two-ton rock dropped on you, healing, then having it dropped on you again, _over and over._

It's not very pleasant.

_**Derrick**_

30 miles away.

Almost there. The gut feeling turned into a large knot in my stomach, and now I _knew _something was wrong. What could've happened? Could it be Holly?

With that thought, I sped up even more.

_**Holly**_

My muscles are working now, buts that's not necessarily a good thing. They all feel like I pulled them almost past repair. Like when you're playing sports and you over-stretch something, like you're arm or leg. What I'm feeling now, is that tenfold.

I stopped screaming, because of the sensitivity of my ears. I bit my lip to stop myself as my leg broke again, drawing blood.

When will this _end?_

_**Derrick**_

I'm here.

I raced up into the mansion, sprinting right to Jason's room. I smelled _blood _coming from there. _Holly's _blood.

_**Holly **_

I was faintly aware of a door bursting open, shouting voices. I focused on one deep voice specifically. _Derrick._

I opened my eyes to slits, all I could manage at the moment. I spotted Derrick staring at me, shocked, scared, worried. And there was something else there I couldn't quite name.

_**Derrick**_

I punched the door out of the way, no time to bother with door knobs. The first thing I saw was Jason kneeling next to Holly on the floor. And after smelling the blood, I thought the worst. I was angry. How could Jason take Holly's blood?

"Jason!" I shouted, furious.

He turned to me, speechless, frantic. And then I realized it wasn't my anger that scared him. I focused on Holly, she was jerking about. Sickeningly, her bones were breaking over and over.

"What's happening?" I barely yelled.

Jason looked over at me with wide-eyes, "She's... she's Changing."

"No. No, no, no. _No."_

This can't be happening. No yet. Not until I make up my mind! _Why _does she have to be Changing? _Why _did Luke have to order me to kill her when she did? _Why _does my life suck so much right now?

The decision has to be made.

Luke or Holly?

Holly or Luke?

Betray my brother or kill the only girl I've ever bothered to fall in love with?

I could feel my un-beating heart being torn in two.

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**You like? Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Heyyy, another chapter. :D I deserve a reward of some type, for updating so soon :P Thanks to all my reviewers. You inspired me to update so quickly. :DD**

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_**Derrick**_

I looked on with horror as Holly was broken over and over by an unknown force. I didn't know what to do. Jason was looking at me desperately, urging me to do _something_.

I was torn between the decision to stay loyal to my own flesh and blood or to my one true love. But when it came right down to it, I knew what I had to do.

Hesitating only for a nanosecond I dropped to the floor and pulled Holly's spasmatic body into my arms. I numbed myself to the feeling of her bones breaking against my chest and arms, ignored her screaming, and blocked out the image of her face with the expression of pure agony. All I wanted to do was take all that pain away, and see her smile again.

I hugged her to me, not minding the pounding I was getting from it. Grabbing the cloth from Jason, I wiped the blood off of her chin and lips. I ignored the alluring smell of her A positive blood, and gave the now blood-stained rag back to Jason.

It was at that precise moment, William ran in, followed closely by Cassie, who I assumed already knew what Holly was going through. Christopher entered the room after her.

William asked sternly, "What's going on here?"

"She's Changing," I choked out, repeating Jason's earlier words.

I looked down at Holly again, to see tears running down her face. Not caring who was watching I stroked her hair, moist with sweat, and wiped her tears away gently, before whispering comforting words to her.

_**Holly**_

"It's alright, Holly," I heard Derrick tell me faintly, "You're gonna make it through this."

I screamed as I felt my teeth being pushed out, then new ones growing back in their place. I bit down on my lip, hard, only to have two extremely sharp canines pierce my lip. My lip healed quickly, but I had still felt the pain.

"I'm here for you," Derrick whispered shakily.

Then my brain went fuzzy, unable to comprehend anything for a moment, no pain, no comforting voice of Derrick, nothing. Then my mind was lost to darkness.

_**Derrick**_

Holly stopped spazzing, her body was still. Her bones were completely healed, no injuries. Two fangs poked slightly from behind her lips. She was barely breathing, not even making a noise.

The Death Sleep.

**x.x.x**

I sat in the chair by the bed, staring at Holly's lifeless form. It had been a day since her Change. She still hasn't woken from the Sleep. I haven't moved from this spot since she was placed in here. And I wasn't moving until she woke up.

William walked in the room and stood by me silently, not speaking. He stared at Holly as I was, arms crossed, face stern, as it always was.

"She might not wake up, you know."

I looked up at him, determination as my expression, "She _will_ wake up."

William simply shook is head in sympathy, resting a hand on my shoulder, before walking out of the room. Over his shoulder he said, "The rest of us are going hunting. We'll be back later tonight."

I nodded once. As he left, I looked out the window, to see the sun a little over the horizon. It was the afternoon already. I heard my family and Christopher downstairs, talking, laughing. _How _can they be happy in a situation like this? I scowled.

The door bell rang about 30 minutes later. I wasn't going to answer it, not willingly wanting to leave Holly's side. But whoever it was, was very insistent, and rang the doorbell over and over for at least 5 minutes. Reluctantly, I got up and sprinted at top speed to the door, getting there in a second, then throwing the door open angrily.

"_What?"_ I growled to the person on the doorstep.

The boy flinched, but straightened up asking, "Where's Holly?"

I narrowed my eyes for a second, ready to rip his throat out, but then recognized him as that kid, Holly's best friend, Nick, apparently. "How do you know where I live?"

"Phone book." He said obviously, "You're the only Sorenson in town."

I groaned, William must have put us in the phone book to make us seem more 'normal'.

"Where's Holly?" he repeated, "I know she's here. She's been missing for 2 days, where else would she be?"

I rolled my eyes, and dead-panned, "I raped her, brutally murdered her with an ax, put her remains in a trash bag, and then proceeded to bury her in the middle of the woods. Good luck finding her." Then I slammed the door in his face.

The incessant ringing of the door bell caused me to turn around, fling the door open, and push Nick off my porch. "Even if she _is _here, she's _safe!_ So leave! Now!"

Surprisingly, he picked himself up and hurled himself at me. I easily caught him around the stomach and threw him down.

"I know she's here! Just let me see her!" He pleaded, still on the ground.

In a moment of weakness, I sighed and said, "Fine."

**x.x.x**

"I-is she okay?" Nick asked, staring at Holly's body, laying still in the bed.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

Nick reached out and touched her hand, and then pulled it back immediately, "She's cold as a corpse."

I'm sure the only thing convincing him she wasn't a corpse was the irregular rise and fall of her chest.

"What's going on?" he asked me suspiciously.

"She's a vampire."

"What?"

"A blood-sucking creature."

Nick narrowed his eyes at me, "Yeah, I know what a vampire is. But what do you mean _she's _a vampire?"

"Holly Changed into a vampire yesterday," I told him.

"There's no such thing as vampires," he muttered.

I walked and stood next to him. I pulled back Holly's upper lip to reveal her sharp fangs. "How do you explain this?" I shot to the other side of him impossibly quick, "Or that?"

Nick paled, "Okay... so they are real... but... that doesn't explain why Holly is one now."

I looked at him, "She was bitten a few weeks back, by a vampire."

He didn't reply for a second, just stared at Holly, "That's why she was acting so weird..." he mumbled to himself more than to me.

We stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. Then I heard something, a rustle of a branch. A second later, someone crashed through the window. Always with the entrances... sheesh.

"That was unnecessary," I said, folding my arms. On the outside, I was the epitome of calm, on the inside, I was frantic.

Lucian smiled, "Hello, Brother," he glanced at Nick, "Who is this? A snack?"

Nick started to protest, but stopped when Luke's eyes landed on Holly. Luke turned on Derrick, eyes slits, "_You were supposed to kill her, Derrick."_

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**Watcha think? Was it good, or should I delete this and pretend it never happened?  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**Heyyaa. 1. Sorry for not updating in forever. 2. Thanks to all my reviews! :) 3. School sucks!**

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I never thought it would be so painful to die. I mean, I always believed it would be painless, you know, peaceful. Ha, yeah right. I thought _Changing _was bad... but this, this is just down right... _agonizing._ There's honestly no words to describe what I'm going through right now.

I felt... cold. Freezing, actually. Like someone poured liquid nitrogen on me and crushed me to pieces. But I knew I was still whole. Physically, at least. I don't think my mind can take much more of this... this torture.

I'm paralyzed though. I think. Can't you open your eyes when you're paralyzed? No matter how many times I try, I can't force them open. I want to scream, too. But I can't. What's wrong with me? It's like my mind is resting in the empty shell of my body while I die, for some reason, keeping me here to feel the pain of it. But, I don't _want _to. This is unbearable. Isn't my soul suppose to go into the afterlife or something? _I'm dead for Christ's sake!_

Aren't I?

That's when it hit me. My memory came flooding back. And I knew what was happening to me. I was turning into a _vampire. _A mythical creature that isn't supposed to exist at all... and I'm becoming one. This is _not _happening. I wanted to groan as much as I wanted to scream.

The ice flooded through my veins, branching out throughout my body and practically bursting them, stopping my blood cold... literally. My heart hurt the worst though. It didn't feel like it was even there anymore, just a solid, frozen organ, not pumping anymore. But it tried, desperately, to keep my blood moving. I could feel the stutters and flips it was doing, _trying_ to break away from its icy prison.

I started to cry, something I _could _actually do, somehow, still. My luck, the only functioning part of my body left are the tear ducts. I was glad though, that there was still some way while I was in this state that I could express my pain. I felt the salty liquid well over and glide down the side of my face, and I realized I must me laying on my back.

The ice stopped, done spreading. It hurt less now, but the pain was still not fully gone. I suddenly felt my muscles tighten, my bones harden, _teeth sharpen._ I felt the bones in my face shift slightly, too. I was quickly turning into a deadly predator.

Suddenly I was able to move. I balled my hands into fists, arched my back, forced my new eyes open, and released the scream I had built up for the last 24 hours.

_**Derrick**_

Exactly 5 seconds after the words left Luke's lips, the most bloodcurdling, agonizing scream I've ever heard sounded throughout the room. No, throughout the _house_. I whirled around to face Holly. She was in a painful looking position, back arched high in the hair, her fists clenched tightly against the bed. She stopped abruptly and fell back onto the bed. She's probably very weak, they always are after the Change.

Holly was breathing hard, her eyes were closed. I turned quickly to my brother, I could see the wheels turning in his twisted head. A deadly look was in his eyes, but also a trace of fear. Fear of failure.

Nick had backed up against the far wall, pale and shocked. My eyes flicked to Holly, who was still in the same position, eye closed, fists clenched. Suddenly, a feral growl came from behind me, and I turned in time to see Luke launching himself at Holly.

Before my mind could even process the movement, I had run to grab the back of Luke's collar and fling him across the room. Shocked, he jumped up and glared at me, eyes full of betrayal. I felt almost guilty.

"_Traitor," _he hissed venomously. I flinched.

His eyes alternated between me and Holly, gaze decisive. Before I could react, Luke lunged at me, knocking me against the floor roughly. He had made his decision. I tried to kick him off, but he pinned my legs down with hand, the other around my throat. I clawed at his hand. I may not need air, but I couldn't move with my head pinned to the floor.

Unfortunately, Luke is much, much older and stronger than me. I have no chance against him. But I _have _to try. It's not my safety I'm worried about. Not Nick's. But Holly's. If I can't get rid of Luke, she's in danger, and that is _not_ tolerable.

Lucian slammed my head against the floor, shaking the walls of the room, "See what you've done, _D?" _He asked, mockingly using his nickname for me and forcing me to look at the still body of Holly, "You let her Change. If we don't kill her now..." Luke trailed off.

I snarled. "You're not going to kill her, Luke."

He grinned wickedly... disturbingly, "You're right, I'm not." For a brief moment, I thought he'd side with me, and go against... _him. "_You are." It was only wishful thinking, of course.

_**Holly**_

I lay still, breathing hard, eyes shut tightly, weak. I was trying to get over what I just went through... the pain... I winced. I shouldn't think about it. Suddenly, I realized... I heard voices. One voice I didn't recognize, another voice I did. It was Derrick, and another male, a vampire. It hit me that I didn't get that information by sight, but by _smell_. I _smelt _that he was a male and not female, _smelt _that he was a vampire. And then there was another smell, an alluring smell. Familiar somehow. It was human. Male. Blood type A negative. Okay, that was a little creepy.

I decided to ignore the warm smell of blood pumping through a human body and focused on the voices.

"Get up, Brother," There was a shuffling sound and then a snarl, "Do it." The low voice I didn't know was full of authority.

"No," answered Derrick.

"Kill her." Oh no.

"Never," he snarled.

There was a loud thud and a 'oomph'. Then, I felt a cold hand lock around my throat. Though I barely noticed the freezing temperature of it against my equally cold skin. I was held, upright, hovering a few feet above the floor. A low growling came from the vampire holding me up.

I could _sense_ him, almost envision him moving to break my spine. I _knew _it was gonna happen, so I forced my heavy eye lids open, to make a futile attempt to save myself. But the vampire still hadn't moved yet. Though, I still had the feeling. It was odd.

A burst of energy coursed through me, and I grabbed the hand locked around my neck and peeled it off. I expected to fall into a heep onto the floor, but somehow, I was able to land on the balls of my feet. Studying the male vampire in front of me, I realized he looked a lot like Derrick. And I remembered... "_Get up, Brother,"... _

Derrick has a brother?

My thoughts were cut off when the vampire growled, he looked angry, and shocked. Unintentionally I let out a threatening snarl, coming from deep in my throat. An image of Derrick's brother pouncing on me and knocking me to the floor burst into my mind. I rolled away instantly, right when he actually _did. _This is so weird.

_**Derrick**_

I watched, incredulously, as Holly fought Luke. She was... good. Better than good. It was like she's been doing this for years, but she only woke up 10 minutes ago! And _how _does she have so much energy? She shouldn't be able to move! Much less fight my 2 century old brother! And be _winning!_

I had gotten up finally, from being thrown, impossibly hard against the wall, and I studied Holly more carefully. She looked... different. Of course, her face was changed some, from turning into a vampire. She was much, much paler. There was something wrong with her eyes. But my mind wouldn't register exactly what it was that was odd about them.

I heard a gasp. My head whipped around to see Nick, pressed firmly against the wall, watching Holly, horrified. I ran over to him, something suddenly dawning on me.

"Nick," I hissed, "Run. Go home, now."

He looked over at me, mouth still hanging open, "But Holly-"

"-Is probably very _hungry," _I said, emphasizing the word, so he'd catch my drift.

"Oh," He said, voice cracking.

"Run." I urged.

And he did. Ran out of the room, ran out of the house, leaving the door open. I looked back at Holly and Luke. And I was shocked. She had him pinned against the wall, forearm across his neck, and her other hand holding is wrists together. She looked a little freaked.

She looked back at me for a second before turning to my brother again. And then I realized what was wrong with her eyes. They weren't the yellowish gold like all newborn vampire's eyes were... they were still green. Still the beautiful emerald green they've always been.

_**Holly **_

_How am I doing this?_ I had the vampire pinned against the wall, after a helpful vision of him trying to do it to me. I fought him, and I _won_. I don't know how... well yes, I do. The images, visions, the kept flashing in my mind, showing me what he was going to do before he actually did it. I guess all vampires can do it.

Another pale hand appeared in front of my face, removing my arm from the vampire's neck. I glanced behind me again to see Derrick. His eyes flicked to me, and he almost smiled.

I turned back to the vampire quickly, afraid he might attack again. He didn't. He was staring at me, with complete hatred. What did I ever to do to him?

"Leave," came Derrick's voice from beside me now, "Now, Lucian."

Lucian let out a loud, frustrated growl before jumping out the window yelling, "He isn't going to like hearing about this, Derrick!" His voice faded as he ran away.

**That was fun to write :D What do ya think?**


	19. Chapter 19

**Ah! Sorry for not updating! Here's chap. 19 finally. lol thanks for all the reviews and stuffies :3 you people are truly pure awesomeness**

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"Are you okay?"

I turned to Derrick, he was looking at me, concerned. His gaze made me uneasy for some reason. He was looking at me like... there was something wrong with me.

I fidgeted, "Yeah, I'm fine."

My eyes locked with his. He stared at me intently.

"Will you stop that, please?"

Derrick snapped out of whatever thoughts he'd been caught in, "What?"

"Looking at me like that," I mumbled, looking down at my hands.

"Holly." I looked up at him questioningly, "Your eyes..."

I furrowed my brow, "What about them?" I realized my eyes would be golden now. Why did that bother Derrick?

He copied my expression, "They're still... green."

"Huh?"

"Your eyes, Holly, they didn't change at all, they're still the same emerald green they've always been," he said, speaking more quickly, "And you know what else? You shouldn't be able to _stand _right now, much less fight! _And _win the fight! Against a vampire that's over two _centuries _old!"

I took hold of his shoulders, "Calm down! You're freaking out!"

He took a deep breath, "Sorry, I'm just a bit in shock."

"Ditto."

"Huh?"

I smiled at him, "It means 'me too'."

"Why didn't you just say that then?" he asked, confused. It was adorable, really.

"_Because, _why would I say that, when I could say a fun word like 'ditto'?"

"Is that even a word?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"Is it in the dictionary?"

"I don't think so."

"Then it's not a word," he said matter-of-factly.

I gave him a side glance, "Just because it's not in the dictionary, doesn't mean it's not a word."

"Yes, it does."

"Is 'Derrick' in the dictionary?"

"No... but names don't count," he sniffed.

"But names are words, and according to you, if it's not in the dictionary, it's not a word. Names aren't in the dictionary, but they're words. So I'm right, it doesn't have to be in the dictionary for it to be a word."

He folded his arms, "But 'ditto' isn't a name, Holly, so it doesn't count."

"Ah, but it's slang, Derrick, and didn't you know they have whole dictionaries now, dedicated to slang? So there, it _is _in a dictionary." I smiled triumphantly at him.

He sighed in defeat, and looked up at me again. I could feel his eyes studying my new features, and suddenly, I wanted to know what I look like. How much have I changed? Do I look very different? Would people recognize me? Would my friends recognize me? Would my family?...

Suddenly I felt immense pain. Not the physical kind, no. I think I would have preferred it though, over this. My frozen heart broke in half. The thought that, now that I was a vampire, a monster, I could never see my friends and family again. I couldn't explain to Emily and Nick why I'd been acting so weird. My mom and dad would think I ran away, and they'd probably blame themselves, because they'll think they weren't good parents or something. But they were, and I'll never see them again. All the people I love, aren't apart of my life anymore. But worst of all, I think, is that Nick hadn't forgiven me yet, and I'll never get the chance to apologize to him now.

I wished desperately, that when I Changed, that all my human memories would have disappeared, so that I wouldn't have to feel this pain at all. It would've been a lot easier. But then again, looking back, there are memories I would like to keep with me, throughout my whole immortal existence. Things I never want to forget.

"Holly? Holly, what's wrong?"

Surprisingly, the sound of his voice eased my pain a little, because I realized, not everyone I love is being left behind in my human life.

"Nothing, sorry, I spaced out," I smiled apologetically at him.

"Are you sure?" Even as a vampire, I was still mesmerized by his golden eyes. They took my breath away, still.

"Yeah, I'm just... not used to it yet." Not used to how I could hear every little vibration in the house, mice scuttling inside the walls... birds perched on the roof... bugs crawling everywhere in the huge house, I shuddered. I hate bugs. And I wasn't used to the fact that I could smell everything within a half a mile radius. That's when I noticed Derrick had a scent. It was... sweet, and kind of bitter at the same time.

"You smell good." The words popped out before I could stop them, and if I was still human, I would've no doubt blushed a deep red.

He smiled brilliantly at me, revealing his perfect white teeth. His canines were sharper than a normal human's, but they weren't fangs, and I wondered about that, because I could've sworn I felt fangs grow in my mouth when I Changed. I opened my mouth to touch my teeth. No fangs.

"Something wrong?" Derrick asked, amused. I think he knew what I was wondering.

"I thought vampires had fangs."

He acted shocked, "How very stereotypical of you!" He laughed.

I glared at him and he laughed again, "I'm kidding. But yes, we have fangs. You just can't see them." Before I could ask, he bared his teeth, and, right before my eyes, his canine teeth extended and sharpened into deadly points. "See?"

I tried it, concentrating on my teeth. _Grow fangs, grow fangs, grow fangs. _Nothing happened. I huffed. "Why can't I do it?"

He chuckled, "It takes practice."

I tried again, this time closing my eyes tightly and thought of nothing but growing fangs. I felt a weird sensation for a half a second, and then opened my eyes, smiling triumphantly. "I did it!"

Derrick smiled, showing that his fangs were still there. "You catch on quick."

I grinned and reached up to touch my newly acquired fangs. They were impossibly sharp, I could tell, but they didn't pierce my skin.

Derrick suddenly grabbed my hand, sending an electric shot up my arm, and creating butterflies in my stomach, "Come, I want to show you something."

* * *

"It's so beautiful." I marveled at the sunset. It was so much more in focus, so much easier to see the blend of the colors, to see the beauty of it. We sat in the back yard of the Sorenson's mansion. It was a beautiful garden, with many different kinds of flowers aligned in the shape of a star. In the middle, there was a fountain, an old one. It looked early 19th century maybe. It was standard, with three levels of pools containing water, that overflowed into the next one, at the top of it was an angel with huge wings, his hands cupped together aimed outwards, where the water spouted. Even though it was slightly plain and unoriginal, it was somehow more beautiful than any others I've seen.

Derrick and I sat on the edge of it, arms brushing slightly. The butterflies never went away. "It is beautiful isn't it?"

I looked over at him, and he glanced at me, looking like he was about to say something else, but he didn't. I admired his profile in the setting sun, until he caught me, and smiled at me.

"Hey, Derrick?" I inquired.

"Hm?"

"Why do you think my eyes are still green?"

He gazed at me for a few minutes, "You're special, Holly. You've always been special," he told me softly.

I looked down at my hand, inches away from Derrick's and shook my head, "I'm no one special. I'm just a freak of nature."

Suddenly my head was jerked up by Derrick's hand. I stared at his beautiful face as he spoke, "Don't ever say that. You are not a freak, Holly. Not even close. You're much more than you see yourself as. Believe me, I know. You, and only you, are the destiny of every vampire on this earth, even if you don't know it."

"I'm confused..." I said. Nothing made sense. What did _I _have to do with all the vampires in the world?

To my disappointment, Derrick took his hand away from my face, and angled himself toward me, leaning forward, and speaking in a rush I wouldnt've understood if I was still a slow human, "There's something I must tell you, Holly. I'll start at that the beginning. About a hundred years ago, there was a... prophecy, I guess you could say, made by one of the Old, one that had the power to see far into the future. He saw a girl, a human, who was Changed by an unknown vampire. The girl had emerald green eyes... and they stayed that way, when she became a vampire. The Old One saw her fight Gabriel and win. You see, Gabriel is- was an Old One. The Old are sort of a vampire council, powerful authority figures that enforce the rules that go along with being an immortal. William or I will explain these rules to you later. Gabriel was thrown off of the Council because he had dark thoughts about our future. He wanted to slaughter humans with no mercy, only changing the ones with potential. He wanted to rule the world, Holly. He was exiled from France, where the council resides, and now he's here, trying to regain power, to create an army. The only thing that can stop him... is you, Holly. You are the key to his failure."

My head was swimming, "A-are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious, I wouldn't make this up."

I clutched the edge of the fountain for support, "How the hell am _I_, of all people, supposed to stop some super old psycho vampire guy from taking over the world?"

"You fought a 200 year old vampire with exceptional fighting skills, and won. Right after you Changed, I might add. I know you can do it, Holly."

I decided to change the subject for a second, "Speaking of that vampire that was trying to kill me... was he your brother?"

He looked uncomfortable, "...Yes, that was my brother."

"Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"Because... I'm not really who you think I am, Holly. I'm a bad person- er, vampire. I've killed... so many people," he looked ashamed, "Lucian, my brother, he was the one to Change me. Luke is in league with Gabriel, a faithful servant. Gabriel had changed him shortly after he was exiled, seeing that my brother was a strong man, a good fighter. Then my brother Changed me, more out of service to Gabriel than love, I think. I was given an assignment, to kill the girl with emerald eyes," he looked up at me, "Once they figured out it was you, I was sent to join the Sorenson's coven. Then I would get close to you, and eventually kill you before you were Changed."

"Why before I was Changed?" I asked shakily.

"Because after, you'd surely be unstoppable. And I can see now, it's true."

I looked down at my hands. Derrick is- was supposed to kill me? All this time... he only talked to me because he was sent to murder me.

"Don't worry, Holly, I won't kill you. Never."

I believed him. "Promise?" I asked, giving him a half-smile.

"I swear it," he said, smiling at me.

I didn't let it sink in yet, the fact that I was supposed to save the world. I didn't want to waste this moment panicking. Not to say I wasn't already shaken, I was. I was moments away from hyperventilating.

Derrick took my hand, stroking the back of mine with his thumb, comforting me. I looked up at him, as he stared down at our interlocking hands. His jet black hair fell slightly into his eyes. I brushed it away unconsciously, and Derrick lifted his face, inches away from mine, to look at me. All I could see were his eyes, I was drowning in pools of gold. The unnecessary breathing I was doing became ragged, and I'm sure if my heart wasn't made of ice, it would be beating a mile a minute. And before I knew it, our lips met in a kiss that I would never, ever forget throughout eternity.

* * *

**Gah! Finally they kiss, right? Review :D**


	20. Chapter 20

Heeey, guys. First off, I just wanna thank allll of you who have read this and liked it and extra thanks to people who reviewed and gave me the confidence to write more. :)

Well, the purpose of this note is to say... The End, really. I'm going to end this story here so that I can start afresh for the awesome sequel. My writing has changed a bit, I think improved, and... honestly... this story is getting old. I like the plot, but I think I started straying a little from what I wanted. So, soon hopefully, I'll start the sequel to NSTAV, and I _think _it will be much better than this one. I'll try at least :D So, yeah.

The sequel will most likely take place a couple of weeks after this story, and, of course, will revolve around Holly saving the world. ;) That's pretty much all I know right now, or at least all I'm willing to tell you guys... hehe.

Peace & Love,  
Catt

(:


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